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1

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS

[Author's Edition]

New Arabian Nights

BY

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

X903

lAii right* rettrvtdl

linrtnrgp^"*'*''

PR
IS02.

UndergrarfuatA
Library

TO

ROBERT ALAN MOWBRAY STEVENSON

IN GRATEFUL RSMEMBRANCE OF THEIR YOUTH
AND THBIR ALREADY OLD AFFECTION

NOTE.

I MUST prefix a word of thanks to the gentleman who
condescended to borrow the gist of one of my stories,
and even to honor it with the addition of his signature.
This mark of appreciation emboldened me to make the
present collection.

IC( Lt9 O,

CONTENTS

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

PAGB

Story of the Young Man with the Cream Tarts , 3
Story of the Physician and the Saratoga Trunk . 36
The Adventure of the Hansom Cabs . . . • 65

THE RAJAHS DIAMOND,

Story op THE Bandbox 89

Story of the Young Man in Holy Orders . . .116
Story of the House with the Green Blinds . . • 133
The Adventure of Prince Florizel and a Detective . 166

THE PA VI LI ON ON THE LINKS,

CHAPTBR

I. Tells How I Camped in Graden Sea-wood and

BEHELD A LidHT IN THE Pavilion. . . .177
II. Tells of the Nocturnal Landing from the

Yacht ........ 185

III. Tells how 1 became acquainted with my Wife . 192

IV. Tells in what ^ startling manner I learned

THAI . was not alone IN GRADEN SEA-WOOD . 201

V. Tells of an Interview between Northmour,

Clara, and Myself ,..,.. 210
VI. Tells of my Introduction to the T\ll Man .216

X CONTENTS.

FAGS

VII. Tblls how a Word was Cried through the

Paviuon Window 223

VIII. Tells the Last of the Tall Man . , . 230
IX. Tells how Northmour carbied out his Threat . 237

A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT . . . .245

THE SIRE DE MALETROIVS DOOR . . . 27X

PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR, . . .297

THE SUICIDE CLUB

•.

THE SUICIDE CLUB

STORY OF THE YOUNG MAN WITH THE CKEAM TARTS.

DURING his residence in London, the accomplished
Prince Florizd of Bohemia gained the affeclion
of all classes by the seduction of his manner and by a
well-considered generosity. He was a remarkable
man even by what was known of him ; and that was
but a small part of what he actually did. Although
of a placid temper in ordinary circumstances, and
accustomed to take the world with as much philosophy
as any ploughman, the Prince of Bohemia was not
without a taste for ways of life more adventurous and
eccentric than that to wliicli he was destined by his
birth. Now and then, when he fell into a low humor,
when there was no laughable play to witness in any of
tlie London theatres, and when the season of the year
was unsuitable to those field sports in which he
excelled all competitors, he would summon his confi-
dant and Master of the Horse, Colonel GeraJdine, and
bid him prepare himself against an evening ramble.
The Master of the Horse was a young officer of a
brave and even temerarious disposition. He greeted
the news with delight, and hastened to make ready.
Long practice and a varied acquaintance of life had
given him a singular facility in disguise ; he could
adapt not only his face and bearing, but his voice and
almost his thoughts, to those of any rank, character, or
nation ; and in this way he diverted attention from the
Prince, and sometimes gained admission for the pair
into strange societies. The civil authorities were
never taken into the secret of these adventures ; the
imperturbable courage of the one and the ready inven-
tion and chivalrous devotion of the other had brought

4 NMW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

them through a score of dangerous passes ; and they
grew in confidence as time went on.

One evening in March they were driven by a sharp
fall of sleet into an Oyster Bar in the immediate neigh-
borhood of Leicester Square. Colonel Geraldine was
dressed and painted to represent a person connected
with the Press in reduced circumstances ; while the
Prince had, as usual, travestied his appearance by the
addition of false whiskers and a pair of large adhesive
eyebrows. These lent him a shaggy and weather-beaten
air, which, for one of his urbanity, formed the most
impenetrable disguise. Thus equipped, the com-
mander and his satellite sipped their brandy and soda
in security.

The bar was full of guests, both male and female ;
but though more than one of these offered to fall into
talk with OUT adventurers, none of them promised
to grow interesting upon a nearer acquaintance. There
was nothing present but the lees of London and the
commonplace of disrespectability ; and the Prince had
already fallen to yawning, and was beginning to grow
weary of the whole excursion, when the swing doors
were pushed violently open, and a young man, followed
by a couple of commissionaires, entered the bar. Each
of the commissionaires carried a large dish of cream
tarts under a cover, which they at once removed ; and
the young man made the round of the company, and
pressed these confections upon everyone's accept-
ance with an exaggerated courtesy. Sometimes his
offer was laughingly accepted ; sometimes it was firmly,
or even harshly, rejected. In these latter cases the new-
comer always ate the tart himself, with some more or
less humorous commentary.

At last he accosted Prince Florizel.

" Sir," said he, with a profound obeisance, proEFcriog
the tart at the same time between his thumb and fore-
finger, " will you so far honor an entire stranger ? I
can answer for the quality of the pastry, having eaten
two dozen and three of them myself since five oclock."

J

THE SUICIDE CLUB. 5

"I am in the habit," replied the Prince, " of looking
not so much to the nature of a gift as to the spirit in
which it is offered."

"The spirit, sir," returned the young man, with
another how, " is one of mockery."

"Mockery?" repeated Florizel. "And whom do
you propose to mock ? "

" I am not here to expound my philosophy," replied
the other, " but to distribute these cream tarts. If I
mention that I heartily include myself in the ridicule
of the transaction, I hope you will consider honor sat-
isfied and condescend. If not, you will constrain me
to eat my twenty-eighth, and I own to being weary of
the exercise."

"You touch me," said the Prince, "and I have all
the will in the world to rescue you from this dilemma,
but upon one condition. If my friend and I eat your
cakes — for which we have neither of us any natural
inclination — we shall expect you to join us at supper
by way of recompense."

The young man seemed to reflect.

"I have still several dozen upon hand," he said at
last ; " and that will make it necessary for me to visit
several more bars before my great a£Eair is concluded.
This will take some time ; and if you are hungry — "

The Prince interrupted him with a polite gesture.

"My friend and I will accompany you," he said :
" for we have already a deep interest in your very
agreeable mode of passing an evening. And now that
the preliminaries of peace are settled, allow me to sign
the treaty for both."

And the Prince swallowed the tart with the best
grace imaginable.

" It is delicious," said he.

" I perceive you are a connoisseur," replied the
young man.

Solonel Geraldine likewise did honor to the pastry ;
every one in that bar having now either accepted
or refused his delicacies, the young man with the

NEIV ARABIAJf NIGHTS.

cream tarts led the way to another and similar estab-
lishment. The two commissionaires, who seemed to
have grown accustomed to their absurd employment,
followed immediately after ; and the Prince and the
Colonel brought up the rear, arm in arm, and smiling
to each other as they went. In this order the company ,
visited two other taverns, where scenes were enacted
of a like nature to that already described — some refus-
ing, some accepting, the favors of this vagabond hos-
pitality, and the young man himself eating each
rejected tart.

On leaving the third saloon the young man counted
his store. There were but nine remaining, three in
one tray and six in the other.

" Gentlemen," said he, addressing himself to his two
new followers, "I am unwilling to delay your supper,
I am positively sure you must be hungry. I feel
that I owe you a special consideration. And on this
great day for me, when I am closing a career of folly
by my most conspicuously silly action, I wish to behave
handsomely to all who give me countenance. Gentle-
men, you shall wait no longer. Although my consti-
tution is shattered by previous excesses, at the risk of
my life I liquidate the suspensory condition."

With these words he crushed the nine remaining
tarts into his mouth, and swallowed them at a single
movement each. Then, turning to the commissionaires,
he gave them a couple of sovereigns.

I have to thank you," said he, "for your extra-
ordinary patience."

And he dismissed them with a bow apiece. For
some seconds he stood looking at the purse from which
he had just paid bis assistants, then, with a laugh, he
tossed it into the middle of the street, and signified his
readiness for supper.

In a small French restaurant in Soho, which had
enjoyed an exaggerated reputation for some little
while, but had already begun to be forgotten, and in a
private room up two pair of stairs, the three compan-

THE SUICIDE CLUB. 7

ions made a very elegant supper, and drank tbree or
four bottles of champagne, talking the while upon indif-
ferent subjects. The young man was fluent and gay,
but he laughed louder than was natural in a person oi
polite breeding ; his hands trembled violently, and his
voice took sudden and surprising inflections, which
seemed to be independent of his will. The dessert had
been cleared away, and all three had lighted their cigars,
when the Prince addressed him in these words : —

" You will, I am sure, pardon my curiosity. What I
have seen of you has greatly pleased but even more
puzzled me. And though I should be loth to seem
indiscreet, I must tell you that my friend and I are
persons very well worthy to be entrusted with a secret.
We have many of our own, which we are continually
revealing to improper ears. And if, as I suppose, your
story is a silly one, you need have no delicacy with us,
who are two of the silliest men in England. Myname
is Godall, Theophilus Godall ; my friend is Major
Alfred Hammersmith — or at least, such is the name by
which he chooses to be known. We pass our lives
entirely in the search for extravagant adventures ; and
there is no extravagance with which we are not capable
of sympathy."

" I hke you, Mr. Godall," returned the young man ;
"you inspire me with a natural confidence; and t
have not the slightest objection to your friend, the
Major ; whom I take to be a nobleman in masquerade.

■ I a

ioldie

The Colonel smiled at this compliment to the perfec-
tion of his art ; and the young man went on in a more
animated manner.

" There is every reason why I should not tell you
my Btory. Perhaps that is just the reason why I am
going to do so. At least, you seem so well prepared to
hear a tale of silliness that I cannot find it in my heart
to disappoint you, My name, in spite of your example,
I shall keep to myself. My age is not essential to the
narrative. I am descended from my ancestor* by

8 JV£ fT ARABIAN NIGHTS.

ordinary generation, and from them I inherited the
very eligible human tenement which I si ill occupy and
a fortune of three hundred pounds a year. I suppose
they also handed on to nie a hare-brain humor, which
it has been my chief delight to indulge. I received a
good education. I can play the viohn nearly well
enough to earn money in the orchestra of a pennj
gaff, but not quite. The same remark applies to the
flute and the French horn, I learned enough of
whist to lose about a hundred a year at that scientific
game. My acquaintance with French was sufRctentto
enable me to squander money in Paris with almost the
same facility as in London. In short, I am a person
full of manly accomplishments. I have had every sort
of adventure, including a duel about nothing. Only
two months ago I met a young lady exactly suited to
my taste in mind and body ; I found my heart melt ;
I saw that I had come upon ray fate at last, and was in
the way to fall in love. But when I came to reckon
up what remained to me of my capital, 1 found it
amounted to something less than four hundred pounds !
I ask you fairly — can a man who respects himself fall
in love on four hundred pounds ? I concluded, cer-
tainly not ; left the presence of my charmer, and
slightly accelerating my usual rate of expenditure,
came this morning to my last eighty pounds. This I
divided into two equal parts ; forty I reserved for a
particular purpose ; the remaining forty I was to dis-
sipate before the night. I have passed a very enter-
taining day, and played many farces besides that of
the cream tarts which procured me the advantage of
your acquaintance ; for I was determined, as I told you,
to bring a foolish career to a still more foolish conclu-
sion ; and when you saw me throw my purse into the
street, the forty pounds were at an end. Now you
know me as well as I know myself : a fool but consist-
ent in his folly ; and, as I will ask you to believe,
neither a whimperer nor a coward."

From the whole tone of the young man's statement

A

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

h was plain that he harbored very bitter and contempt-
uous thoughts about himself. His auditors were led
to imagine that his love affair was nearer his heart than
he admitted, and that he had a design on his own life.
The farce of the cream tarts began to have very much
the air of a tragedy in disguise.

"Why, is this not odd," broke out Geraldine, giving
a look to Prince Florizel, " that we three fellows should
have met by the merest accident in so large a wilder-
ness as London, and should be so nearly in the same
condition ? "

"How?" cried the young man. "Are you, too,
ruined? Is this supper a folly like my cream tarts?
Has the devil brought three of his own together for a
last carouse ?"

"The devil, depend upon it, can sometimes do a
very gentlemanly thing," returned Prince Florizel ;
" and I am so much touched by this coincidence, that,
although we are not entirely in the same case, I am
going to put an end to the disparity. Let your heroic
treatment of the last cream tarts be my example."

So saying, the Prince drew out his purse and took
from it a small bundle of bank-notes.

" You see, I was a week or so behind you, but I
mean to catch you up and come neck and neck into
the winning-post," he continued. "This," laying one
of the notes upon the table, will suffice for the bill.
As for the rest "

He tossed them into the fire, and they went up the
chimney in a single bU/e.

The young man tried to catch his arm, but as the
table was between them his interference came too late.

"Unhappy man," he cried, "you should not have
burned them all ! You should have kept forty pounds."

" Forty pounds 1 " repeated the Prince. ' Why, in
heaven's name, forty pounds ? "

" Why not eighty ? " cried the Colonel ; " for to my
certain knowledge there must have been a hundred in
the bundle."

to NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

" It was only forty pounds he needed," said the
young man gloomily. " But without them there is no
admission. The rule is strict. Forty pounds for
each. Accursed life, where a. man cannot even die
without money ! "

The Prince and the Colonel exchanged glances.

" Explain yourself," said the latter. " I have stil! a
pocket-book tolerably well lined, and I need not say
how readily I would share my wealth with Godall. But
1 must know to what end ; you must certainly tell us
what you mean."

The young man seemed to awaken ; he looked
uneasily from one to the other, and his face flushed

"You are not fooling me?" he asked. "You are
indeed ruined men like me ? "

" Indeed, I am for my part," replied the Colonel.

" And for mine," said the Prince, " I have given you
proof. Who hut a ruined man would throw his notes
into the fire? The action speaks for itself,"

" A ruined man — yes," returned the other suspi-
ciously, " or else a millionaire."

"Enough, sir," said the Prince; "I have said so,
and I am not accustomed to have my word remain in

" Ruined ? " said the young man. " Are you ruined,
like me ? Are you, after a life of indulgence, come
t3 such a pass that you can only indulge yourself in
one thing more? Are you" — he kept lowering his
voice as he went on^" are you going to give your-
selves that last indulgence I Are you going to avoid
the consequences of your folly by the one infallible^
and easy path ? Are you going to give the slip to the
sheriff's officers of conscience by the one open door?"

Suddenly he broke off and attempted to laugh.

"Here is your health!" he cried, emptying his
glass, " and good night to you, my merry ruined men."

Colonel Geraldinc caught him by the arm as he wai
about to rise.

A

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

" You lack confidence in us," he said, " and you are
wrong. To all your questions I make answer in the
affiimative. But I am not so timid, and can speak the
Queen's English plainly. We too, like yourself, have
had enough of life, and are determined to die. Sooner
or later, alone or together, we meant to seek out death
and beard him where he lies ready. Since we have
met you, and your case is more pressing, let it be to-
night — and at once — and, if you will, all three together.
Such a penniless trio," he cried, "should go arm in
arm into the halls of Pluto, and give each other some
countenance among the shades ! "

Geraldine had hit exactly on the manners and into-
nations that became the part he was playing. The
Prince himself was disturbed, and looked over at his
confidant with a shade of doubt. As for the young
man, the flush came back darkly into his cheek, and
his eyes threw out a spark of light.

" You are the men for me ! " he cried, with an
almost terrible gayety. "Shake hands upon the bar-
gain ! " (his hand was cold and wet.) " You little
know in what a company you will begin the march !
You little know in what a happy moment for yourselves
you partook of my cream tarts ! 1 am only a unit,
but I am a unit in an army. I know Death's private
door. I am one of his familiars, and can show you
into eternity without ceremony and yet without scan-
dal."

They called upon him eagerly to explain his mean-
ing.

Can you muster eighty pounds between you ? " he
demanded.

Geraldine ostentatiously consulted his pocket-book,
and replied in the affirmative.

" Fortunate beings ! " cried the young man. " Forty
pounds is the entry money of the Suicide Club."

"The Suicide Club," said the Prince, "why, what
the devil is that ? "

" Listen," said the young man ; "this is the age of

NEIV ARABIAN NIGHTS.

conveniences, and 1 have to tell you of the last per-
fection of the sort. We have affairs in different places;
and hence railways were invented. Railways sepa-
rated us infallibly from our friends ; and so telegraphs
were made that we might communicate speedily at
great distances. Even in hotels we have lifts to spare
ns a climb of some hundred steps. Now, we know
that life is only a stage to play the fool upon as long
as the part amuses us. There was one more conveni-
ence lacking to modern comfort ; a decent, easy way
to quit that stage ; the back stairs to liberty ; or, as I
said this moment, Death's private door. This, my
two fellow-rebels, is supplied by the Suicide Club.
Do not suppose that you and I are alone, or even
exceptional, in the highly reasonable desire that we
profess. A large number of our fellow-men, who have
grown heartily sick of the performance in which they
are expected to join daily and all their lives long, are
only kept from flight by one or two considerations.
Some have families who would be shocked, or even
blamed, if the matter became public ; others have a
weakness at heart and recoil from the circumstances
of death. That is, to some extent, my own experi-
ence. I cannot put a pistol to my head and draw the
trigger ; for something stronger than myself withholds
the act ; and although I loathe life, I have not strength
enough in my body to take hold of death and be done
with it. For such as I, and for all who desire to be
out of the coil without posthumous scandal, the Suicide
Club has been inaugurated. How this has been man-
aged, what is its history, or what may be its ramifica-
tions in other lands, I am myself uninformed ; and
what I know of its constitution, I am not at liberty to
communicate to you. To this extent, however, I am
at your service. If you are truly tired of life, I will
introduce you to-night to a meeting; and if not to-night,
at least some time within the week, you will be easily
relieved of your existences. It is now (consulting his
watch) eleven ; by half-past, at latest, we must leave

THB SUICIDE CLUB.

this place ; bo that you have half an hour before you
to consider my proposal. It is more serious than s
cream tart," he added, with a smile ; "and I suspeci
more palatable."

" More serious, certainly," returned Colonel Geral-
dine ; " and as it is so much more so, will you allow
me five minutes' speech in private with ray friend, Mr.
Godall P ■'

" It is only fair," answered the young man. " If
you will permit, I will retire."

" You will be very obliging," said the Colonel.

As soon as the two were alone—" What," said Prince
Florizel, " is the use of this confabulation, Geraldine ?
I see you are flurried, whereas my mind is very tran-
quilly made up. I will see the end of this."

"Your Highness," said the Colonel turning pale;
" let me ask you to consider the importance of your
life, not only to your friends, but to the public interest,
'If not to-night,' said this madman; but supposing
that to-night some irreparable disaster were to over-
take your Highness's person, what, let me ask you,
what would be my despair, and what the concern and
disaster of a great nation ? "

"I will see the end of this," repeated the Prince in
his most deliberate tones ; " and have the kindness,
Colonel Geraldine, to remember and respect your
word of honor as a gentleman. Under no circum-
stances, recollect, nor without my special authority,
are you to betray the incognito under which I choose
to go abroad. These were my commands, which I
now reiterate. And now," he added, " let me ask
you to call for the bill."

Colonel Geraldine bowed in submission ; but hehad
a. very white face as he summoned the young man of
the cream tarts, and issued his directions to the waiter.
The Prince preserved his undisturbed demeanor, and
described a Palais Royal farce to the young suicide
with great humor and gusto. He avoided the Col-
onel's appealing looks without ostentation, and selected

14 i^'E VV ARABIAN NIGHTS.

another cheroot with more than usual care. Indeed,
he was now the only man of the party who kept any
command over his nerves.

The bill was discharged, the Prince giving the whole
change of the note to the astonished waiter ; and the
three drove oif in a four wheeler. They were not long
upon the way before the cab stopped at the entrance
to a rather dark court. Here all descended.

After Geraidine had paid the fare, the young man
turned, and addressed Prince Florizel as follows :

"It is still time, Mr, Godall, to make good your
escape into thralldora. And for you too, Major Ham-
mersmith. Reflect well before you take another
step ; and if your hearts say no — here are the cross-
roads."

"Lead on, sir," said the Prince, "I am not the
man to go back from a thing once said."

"Your coolness does me good," replied their guide,
"I have never seen anyone so unmoved at this con-
juncture; and yet you are not the first whom I have
escorted to this door. More than one of my friends
has preceded me, where I knew I must shortly follow.
But this is of no interest to you. Wait me here for
only a few moments; I shall return as soon as I have
arranged the preliminaries of your introduction."

And with that the young man, waving his hand to
his companions, turned into the court, entered a door-

voice, "this is the wildest and most dangerous."
" I perfectly believe so," returned the Prince.
"We have still," pursued the Colonel, "a moment
to ourselves. Let me beseech your Highness to profit
by the opportunity and retire. The consequences of
this step are so dark, and may be so grave, that I feel
myself justified in pushing a little farther than usual
the liberty which your Highness is so condescending
«s to allow me in private."

"Am I to understand that Colonel Geraidine is

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

IS

afraid ? " asked his Highness, taking his cheroot from
his lips, and looking keenly into the other's face.

" My fear is certainly not personal," replied the other
proudly; " of that your highness may rest well assured."

" I had supposed as much," returned the Prince,
■with undisturbed good humor; "but I was unwilling
to remind you of the difference in our stations. No
more^no more," he added, seeing Geraldine about to
apologize, "you stand excused."

And he smoked placidly, leaning against a railing,
until the young man returned.

"Well," he asked, "has our reception been ar-
ranged ? "

" Follow me," was the reply. "The President will
see you in the cahinet. And let me warn you to be
frank in your answers. I have stood your guarantee;
hut the club requires a searching inquiry before admis-
sion ; for the indiscretion of a single member would
lead to the dispersion of the whole society forever."

The Prince and Geraldine put their heads together
for a moment, " Bear me out in this," said the one ;
and " bear me out in that," said the other ; and by
boldly taking up the characters of men with whom
both were acquainted, they had come to an agreement
in a ^winkling, and were ready to follow their guide
into the President's cabinet.

There were no formidable obstacles to pass. The
outer door stood open ; the door of the cabinet was
ajar; and there, in a small but very high apartmentj
the young man left them once more.

" He will be here immediately," he said with a nod,
as he disappeared.

Voices were audible in the cabinet through the fold-
ing doors which formed one end ; and now and then
the noise of a champagne cork, followed by a burst of
laughter, intervened among the sounds of conversation.
A single tall window looked out upon the river and the
embankment ; and by the disposition of the lights they
judged themselves not far from Charing Cross station.

i6

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

The furniture was scanty, and the coverings worn to
the thread ; and there was nothing movable except a
hand-bell in the centre of a round table, and the hats
and coats of a considerable party hung round the wall
onpegs.

What sort of a den is this ? " said Geraldine.

" That is what I have come to see," replied the
Prince, " If they keep live devils on the premises, the
thing may grow amusing."

Just then the folding door was opened no more than
was necessary for the passage of a human body ; and
there entered at the same moment a louder buzz of
talk, and the redoubtable President of the Suicide
Club. The President was a man of fifty or upwards ;
large and rambling in his gait, with shaggy aide-
whiskers, a bald lop to his head, and a veiled gray eye,
which now and then emitted a twinkle. His mouth,
which embraced a large cigar, he kept continually
screwing round and round and from side to side, as he
looked sagaciously and coldly at the strangers. He
was dressed in light tweeds, with his neck very open,
in a striped shirt collar ; and carried a minute book
under one arm.

" Good evening," said he, after he had closed the door
behind him. " I am told you wish to speak with me."

"We have a desire, sir, to join the Suicide Club,"
replied the Colonel.

The President rolled his cigar about in his mouth.

" What is that ? " he said abruptly.

" Pardon me," returned the Colonel, " but I believe
you are the person best qualified to give us information
on that point."

"I?" cried the President "A Suicide Club?
Come, come ! this is a frolic for All Fools' Day. I can
make allowances for gentlemen who get merry in their
liquor ; but let there be an end to this."

" Call your Club what you will," said the Colonel,
"you have some company behind these doors, and we
insist on joining it."

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

17

"Sir," returned the President, curtly, " you have
made a mistake. This is a private house, and you
must leave it instantly."

The Prince had remained quietly in his seat through-
out this little colloquy; but now, when the Colonel
looked over to him, as much as to say, " Take your
answer and come away, for God's sake!" he drew his
cheroot from his mouth, and spoke —

"1 have come here," said he, " upon the invitation
of a friend of yours. He has doubtless informed you
of my intention in thus intruding on your party. Let
me remind you that a person in my circumstances has
exceedingly httle to bind him, and is not at all likely
to tolerate much rudeness. I am a very quiet man, as
a usual thing; but, my dear sir, you are either going to
oblige me in the httle matter of which you are aware,
or you shall very bitterly repent that you ever admitted
me to your ante- chamber."

The President laughed aloud.

" That is the way to speak," said he. "' You are a
man who is a man. You know the way to my heart,
and can do what you hke with me. Will you," he
continued, addressing Geraldine, " will you step aside
for a few minutes? I shall finish first with your com-
panion, and some of the club's formalities require to
be fulfilled in private."

With these words he opened the door of a small
closet, into which he shut the Colonel.

" I believe in you," he said to Florizel, as soon as
they were alone; "but are you sure of your friend?"

" Not so sure as I am of myself, though he has more
cogent reasons," answered Florizel, " but sure enough
to bring him here without alarm. He has had enough
to cure the most tenacious man of life. He was cash-
iered the other day for cheating at cards."

" A good reason, I daresay," replied the President;
"at least, we have another in the same case, and I feel
sure of him. Have you also been in the Service, may
lask?"

NE iV ARABIAN NIGHTS.

:ply; "but I was too lazy, I L

Lg tired of life ? " pur-

1 for bei

"I have," was the i
it early."

"\\Tiat is your rea'
sued the President.

"" The same, as near as I can make out," answered
the Prince; "unadulterated laziness."

The President started. " D n it," said he, " you

must have something better than that."

" I have no more money," added Florizel, " That is
also a vexation, without doubt. It brings my sense of
idleness to an acute point."

The President rolled his cigar round in Ws mouth
for some seconds, directing his gaze straight into the
eyes of this unusual neophyte; but the Prince sup-
ported his scrutiny with unabashed good temper.

" If I had not a deal of experience," said the Presi-
dent at last, " I should turn you ofE. But I know the
world; and this much any way, that the most frivolous
excuses for a suicide are often the toughest to stand
by. And when I downright like a man, as I do you,
sir, I would rather strain the regulation than deny him."

The Prince and the Colonel, one after the other,
were subjected to a long and particular interrogatory:
the Prince alone; but Geraldine in the presence of the
Prince, so that the President might observe the coun-
tenance of the one while the other was being warmly
cross-examined. The result was satisfactory; and the
President, after having booked a few details of each
case, produced a form of oath to be accepted. Nothing
could be conceived more passive than the obedience
promised, or more stringent than the terms by which
the juror bound himself. The man who forfeited a
pledge so awful could scarcelj; have a rag of honor or
any of the consolations of religion left to him. Flori-
zel signed the document, but not without a shudder;
the Colonel followed his example with an air of great

depressioT
money;
friends ii

Then the President received the entry
id without more ado, introduced the two
1 the smoking-room of the Suicide Club.

1

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

The smoking-room of the Suicide Club was the
same height as the cabinet into which it opened, but
much larger, and papered from top to bottom with an
imitation of oak wainscot. A large and cheerful fire
and a number of gas-jets illuminated the company.
The Prince and his follower made the number up to
eighteen. Most of the party were smoking, and drink-
ing champagne; a feverish hilarity reigned, with sudden
and rather ghastly pauses.

" Is this a full meeting ? " asked the Prince.

" Middling," said the President. " By the way," he
added, " if you have any money, it is usual to offer
some champagne. It keeps up a good spirit, and is
one of my own little perquisites."

" Hammersmith," said Florizel, " I may leave the
champagne to you."

And with that he turned away and began to go
round among the guests. Accustomed to play the host
in the highest circles, he charmed and dominated all
whom he approached ; there was something at once
winning and authoritative in his address ; and his
extraordinary coolness gave him yet another distinc-
tion in this half maniacal society. As he went from
one to another he kept both his eyes and ears open,
and soon began to gain a general idea of the people
amongwhom he found himself. As in all other places
of resort, one type predominated : people in the prime
of youth, with every show of intelligence and sensibil-
ity in their appearance, but with little promise of
strength or the quality that makes success. Few were
much above thirty, and not a few were still in their
teens. They stood, leaning on tables and shifting on
their feet ; sometimes they smoked extraordinarily
fast, and sometimes they let their cigars go out ; some
talked well, but the conversation of others was plainly
the result of nervous tension, and was equally without
wit or purport. As each new bottle of champagne was
opened, there was a manifest improvement in gaiety.
Only two were seated — one in a chair in the recess of

so NE W ARABIAN NIGHTS.

the window, with his head hanging and his hands""
plunged deep into his trouser pockets, pale, visibly
moist with perspiration, saying never a word, a very
wreck of soul and body; the other sat on the divan
close by the chimney, and attracted notice by a trench-
ant dissimilarity from all the rest. He was probably
upwards of forty, but he looked fully ten years older ;
and Florizel thought he had never seen a man more
naturally hideous, nor one more ravaged by disease
and ruinous excitements. He was no more than skin
and bone, was partly paralyzed, and wore spectacles
of such unusual power, that his eyes appeared through
the glasses greatly magnified and distorted in shape.
Except the Prince and the President, he was the only
person in the room who preserved the composure of
ordinary life.

There was httle decency among the members of the
club. Some boasted of the disgraceful actions, the
consequences of which had reduced them to seek
refuge in death; and the others listened without dis-
approval. There was a tacit understanding against
moral judgments ; and whoever passed the club doors
enjoyed already some of the immunities of the tomb.
They drank to each other's memories, and to those of
notable suicides in the past. They compared and
developed their different views of death — some declar-
ing that it was no more than blackness and cessation ;
others full of a hope that that very night they should
be scaling the stars and commercing with the mighty
dead.

" To the eternal memory of Baron Trenck, the type
of suicides!" cried one. "He went out of a small
cell into a smaller, that he might come forth again to

" For my part," said a second, " I wish no more
than a bandage for my eyes and cotton for my ears.
Only they have no cotton thick enough in this
world."

A third was tor reading the mysteries of life In a

J

THE SUICIDE CLUB. ai

future state ; and a fourth professed that he would
never have joined the club, if he had not been induced
to believe in Mr. Darwin.

"I coiild not bear," said this remarkable suicide,
**to be descended from an ape."

Altogether, the Prince was disappointed by the bear-
ing and conversation of the members.

It does not seem to me," he thought, "a matter for
so much disturbance. If a man has made up his mind
to kill himself, let him do it, in God's name, iike a
gentleman. This flutter and big talk is out of place."

In the meanwhile Colonel Geraldine was a prey to
the blackest apprehensions ; the club and its rules
were still a mystery, and he looked round the room for
some one who should be able to set his mind at rest.
In this survey his eye lighted on the paralytic person
with the strong spectacles ; and seeing him so exceed-
ingly tranquil, he besought the President, who was
gomg in and out of the room under a pressure of busi-
ness, to present him to the gentleman on the divan.

'I'he functionary explained the needlessness of all
such formalities within the club, but nevertheless pre-
sented Mr. Hammersmith to Mr. Malthus.

Mr. Malthus looked at the Colonel curiously, and
then requested him to take a seat upon his right.

" You are a new comer," he said, " and wish infor-
mation ? You have come to the proper source. It is
two years since I first visited this charming club."

The Colonel breathed again. If Mr. Malthus had
frequented the place for two years there could be lit-
tle danger for the Prince in a single evening. But
Geraldine was none the less astonished, and began to
suspect a mystification.

' What!" cried he, "two years! I thought — but
indeed I see I have been made the subject of a pleas-
antry,"

" By no means," replied Mr. Malthus mildly. " My
case is peculiar. I am not, properly speaking, a sui-
cide at all; but, as it were, an honorary member. I

>3 N^EW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

rarely visit the club twice in two months. My infir-
mity and the kindness of the President have procured
me these little immunities, for which besides I pay at
an advanced rate. Even as it is my iuck has been
extraordinary."

"I am afraid," said the Colonel, "that I must ask
you to be more explicit. Vou must remember that I
am still most imperfectly acquainted with the rules of
the club."

" An ordinary member who comes here in search of
death like yourself," replied the paralytic, "returns
every evening until fortune favors him. He can, even if
he is penniless, get board and lodging from the Presi-
dent; very fair, I believe, and clean, although, of course,
not luxurious; that could hardly be, considering the
exiguity (if I may so express myself) of the subscrip-
tion. And then the President's company is a delicacy
in itself."

" Indeed ! " cried Geraldine, " he had not greatly
prepossessed me."

" Ah ! " said Mr. Malthus, " you do not know the
man: the drollest fellow ! What stories ! What cyn-
icism ! He knows life to admiration and, between
ourselves, is probably the most corrupt rogue in Christ-
endom."

"And he also," asked the Colonel, "is a perma-
nency — like yourself, if I may say so without offence? "

"Indeed, he is a permanency in a very different
sense from me," replied Mr. Malthus. "I have been
graciously spared, but I must go at last. Now he
never plays. He shuffles and deals for the club, and
makes the necessary arrangements. That man, my
dear Mr. Hammersmith, is the very soul of ingenuity.
For three years he has pursued in London his useful
and, I think I may add, his artistic calling; and not so
much as a whisper of suspicion has been once aroused.
I believe him myself to be inspired. You doubtless
remember the celebrated case, six months ago, of the
gentleman who was accidentally poisoned in a chemist's

i

THE SUICIDE CLUB. 23

shop ? That was one of the least rich, one of the least
racy, of his notions; but then, how simple ! and how
safe ! "

"You astound me," said the Colonel. "Was that

unfortunate gentleman one of the " He was about

to say "victims;" but bethinking himself in time, he
substituted — " members of the club ? "

In the same flash of thought, it occurred to him that
Mr. Malthus himself had not at all spoken in the tone
of one who is in love with death; and he added hur-
riedly;

" But I perceive I am still in the dark. Yoii speak
of shuffling and dealing; pray for what end ? And
since you seem rather unwilling to die than otherwise,
I must own tliat I cannot conceive what brings you
here at all."

"You say truly that you are in the dark," replied
Mr. Malthus with more animation. "Why, my dear
sir, this club is the temple of intoxication. If my
enfeebled health could support the excitement more
often, you may depend upon it I should be more often
here. It requires all the sense of duty engendered by
a long habit of ill-health and careful regimen, to keep
me from excess in this, which is, I may say, my last
dissipation. I have tried them all, sir," he went on,
laying his hand on Geraldine's arm, " all without
exception, and I declare to you, upon my honor, there
is not one of them that has not been grossly and
untruthfully overrated. People trifle with love. Now,
I deny that love is a strong passion. Fear is the
strong passion; it is with fear that you must trifle, if
you wish to taste the intense joys of living. Envy
me — envy me, sir," he added with a chuckle, " I am a

Geraldine could scarcely repress a movement of
repulsion for this deplorable wretch; but he com-
manded himself with an effort, and continued his
inquiries.

How, sir," he asked, "is the excitement so art-

NE W ARABIA fr NIGHTS.

fully prolonged ? and where is there any element of
uncertainty ? "

" I must tell you how the victim for every evening
is selected," returned Mr. Malthus; " and not only the
victim, but another member, who is to be the instru-
ment in the club's hands, and death's high priest for
that occasion."

" Good God ! " said the Colonel, " do they then
kill each other ?"

"The trouble of suicide is removed in that way,"
returned Malthus with a nod.

ciful Heavens ! " ejaculated the Colonel, " and
may you^niay I — ^may the — ^my friend, I mean — may
any of us be pitched upon this evening as the slayer of
another man's body and immortal spirit? Can such
things be possible among men bora of women ? Oh !
infamy of infamies ! "

He was about to rise in his horror, when he caught
the Prince's eye. It was fixed upon him from across
the room with a frowning and angry stare. And in a
moment Geraldine recovered his composure.

" After all," he added, " why not ? And since you
say the game is interesting, vogue la gallre — I follow
the club ! '■

Mr. Malthus had keenly enjoyed the Colonel's
amazement and disgust. He had the vanity of wick-
edness; and it pleased him to see another man give
way to a generous movement, while he felt himself, in
his entire corruption, superior to such emotions.

" You now, after your first moment of surprise,"
said he, " are in a position to appreciate the delights
of our society. You can see how it combines the
excitement of a gaming-table, a duel, and a Roman
amphitheatre. The Pagans did well enough; I cordi-
ally admire the refinement of their minds; but it has
been reserved for a Christian country to attain this
extreme, this quintessence, this absolute of poignancy.
You will understand how vapid are all amusements to
a man who has acquired a taste for this one. The

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

game we play," he continued, "is one of extreme
simplicity. A full pack— but I perceive you are about
to see the thing in progress. WiU you lend me the
help of your arm ? I am unfortunately paralyzed."

Indeed, just as Mr. Maithus was beginning his
description, another pair of folding-doors was thrown
open, and the whole club began to pass, not without
some hurry, into the adjoining room. It was similar
in every respect to the one from which it was entered,
but somewhat differently furnished. The centre was
occupied by a long green table, at which the President
sat shuffling a pack of cards with great particularity.
Even with the stick and the Colonel's arm, Mr. Maithus
walked with so much difficulty that everyone was
sealed before this pair and the Prince, who had waited
for them, entered the apartment; and, in consequence,
the three took seats close together at the lower end of
the board.

" It is a pack of fifty-two," whispered Mr. Maithus.
" Watch for the ace of spades, which is the sign of
death, and the ace of clubs, which designates the offi-
cial of the night. Happy, happy young men ! " he
added. " You have good eyes, and can follow the
game. Alas ! I cannot tell an ace froKi a deuce across
the table."

And he proceeded to equip himself with a second
pair of spectacles.

" I must at least watch the faces," he explained.

The Colonel rapidly informed his friend of all that
he had learned from the honorary member, and of the
horrible alternative that lay before them. The Prince
was conscious of a deadly chill and a contraction about
his heart; he swallowed with difficulty, and looked
from side to side like a man in a maze.

" One bold stroke," whispered the Colonel, " and we
may still escape."

But the suggestion recalled the Prince's spirits.

"Silence!" said he. "Let me see that you can
play like a gentleman for any stake, however serious."

a6 !^EW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

And he looked about him, once more to all appear-
ance at his ease, although his heart beat thickly, and
he was conscious of an unpleasant heal in his bosom.
The members were al! very quiet and intent; everyone
was pale, but none so pale as Mr. Malthus. His eyes
protruded; his head kept nodding involuntarily upon
his spine; his hands found their way, one after the
other, to his mouth, where they made clutches at his
tremulous and ashen lips. It was plain that the hon-
orary member enjoyed his membership on very start-
ling terms.

' Attention, gentlemen ! " said the President.

And he began slowly dealing the cards about the
table in the reverse direction, pausing until each man
had shown his card. Nearly everyone hesitated; and
sometimes you would see a player's fingers stumble
more than once before he could turn over the momen-
tous slip of pasteboard. As the Prince's turn drew
nearer, he was conscious of a growing and almost suf-
focating excitement; but he had somewhat of the
gambler's nature, and recognized almost with astonish-
ment that there was a degree of pleasure in his sensa-
tions. The nine of dubs fell to his lot; the three of
spades was dealt to Geraldine; and the queen of hearts
to Mr, Malthus, who was unable to suppress a sob of
rehef. The young man of the cream tarts almost
immediately afterwards turned over the ace of clubs,
and remained frozen with horror, the card still resting
on his finger; he had not come there to kill, but to be
killed; and the Prince, in his generous sympathy with
his position, almost forgot the peril that still hung over
himself and his friend.

The deal was coming round again, and stil! Death's
card had not come out. The players held their respi-
ration, and only breathed by gasps. The Prince
received another club; Geraldine had a diamond; but
when Mr. Malthus turned up his card a horrible noise,
like that of something breaking, issued from his
mouth; and he rose from his seat and sat down again,

J

THE SUICIDE CLUB. IJ

*ith no sign of his paralysis. It was the ace of spades.
The honorary member had trifled once too often with
his terrors.

Conversation broke out again almost at once. The
players relaxed their rigid attitudes, and began to rise
from the table and stroll back by twos and threes into
the smoking-room. The President stretched his arms
and yawned, like a man who had finished his day's
work. But Mr. Malthus sat in his place, with his head
in his hands, and his hands upon the table, drunk and
motionless — a thing stricken down.

The Prince and Geraldine made their escape at once.
In the cold night air their horror of what they had
witnessed was redoubled.

" Alas ! " cried the Prince. " to be bound by an oath
in such a matter ! to allow this wholesale trade in
murder to be continued with profit and impunity ! If
I but dared to forfeit my pledge ! "

" That is impossible for your Highness," replied the
Colonel, whose honor is the honor of Bohemia. "But
I dare, and may with propriety, forfeit mine."

" Geraldine," said the Prince, " if your honor suffers
in any of the adventures into which you follow me,
not only will I never pardon you, but — what I believe
will much more sensibly affect you — I should never
forgive myself."

' I receive your Highness's commands," replied
the Colonel. Shall we go from this accursed spot?"

"Yes," said the Prince. "Call a cabin Heaven's
name, and let me try to forget in slumber the memory
of this night's disgrace."

But it was notable that he carefully read the name
of the court before he left it.

The next morning, as soon as the Prince was stirring,
Colonel Geraldine brought him a daily newspaper,
with the following paragraph marked : —

"Melancholy Accident. — This morning, about
two o'clock, Mr. Bartholomew Malthus, of i6 Chep-
stow Place, Westbourne Grove, on his way home from

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

a party at a friend's house, feii over the upper parapet
in Trafalgar Square, fracturing his skull and breaking
a leg and an arm. Death was instantaneous. Mr.
Malthus, accompanied by a friend, was engaged in
looking for a cab at the time of the unfortunate occur-
rence. As Mr. Malthus was paralytic, it is thought
that his fall may have been occasioned by another
seizure. The unhappy gentleman was well known in
the most respectable circles, and his loss will be widely
and deeply deplored."

"If ever a soul went straight to Hell," said Geral-
dine solemnly, "it was that paralytic man's."

The Prince buried his face in his hands, and remained
silent.

"I am almost rejoiced," continued the Colonel,
'' to know that he is dead. But for our young man of
the cream tarts I confess my heart bleeds."

"Geraldine," said the Prince, raising his face, '
unhappy lad was last night as innocent as you
and this morning the guilt of blood is on his t
When I think of the President, my heart grow
withm me. I do not know how it shall be done, but I
shall have that scoundrel at my mercy as there isaGod
in heaven. What an experience, what a lesson, was
that game of cards ! "

" that

:1, "never to be repeated."
I long without replying, that

itum," he said. "You have
n too much horror already,
1 forbid the repetition

"One," said the Coloni

The Prince remained s(
Geraldine grew alarmed.

"You cannot mean to return,
suffered too much and seen toe
The duties of your high positio
of the hazard."

"There is much in what you say," replied Prince
Florizel, " and I am not altogether pleased with my
own determination. Alas ! in the clothes of the
greatest potentate, what is there but a man ? I never
felt my weakness more acutely than now, Geraldine,
but it is stronger than I. Can I cease to interest
myself In the fortunes of the unhappy young man who

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

n

supped with us some hours ago? Can I leave the
President to follow his nefarious career unwatched ?
Can I begin an adventure so entrancing, and not follow
it to an end ? No, Geraldine ; you ask of the Prince
more than the man is able to perform. To-night, once
more, we take our places at the table of the Suicide
Club."

Colonel Geraldine fell upon his knees.

"Will your Highness take my life?" he cried. "It
is his — his freely ; but do not, O do not ! let him ask
me to countenance so terrible a risk."

"Colonel Geraldine," replied the Prince, with some
haughtiness of manner, "your life is absolutely your
own. I only looked for obedience ; and when that is
unwillingly rendered, I shall look for that no longer.
1 add one word : your importunity in this affair has
been sufBcient."

The Master of the Horse regained his feet at once.
"Your Highness," he said, "may I be excused in
my attendance this afternoon? I dare not, as an
honorable man, venture a second time into that fatal
house until I have perfectly ordered my affairs. Your
Highness shall meet, I promise him, with no more
opposition from the most devoted and grateful of his
servants."

"My dear Geraldine," returned Prince Florizel, "I
always regret when you oblige me to remember my
rank. Dispose of your day as you think fit, but be
here before eleven in the same disguise."

The club, on this second evening, was not so fully
attended ; and when Geraldine and the Prince arrived,
there were not above half-a-dozen persons in the smok-
ing room. His Highness took the President aside and
congratulated him warmly on the demise of Mr. Mal-
thus.

"I like," he said, "to meet with capacity, and cer-
tainly find much of it in you. Your profession is of a
very delicate nature, but I see you are well qualified
to conduct it with success and secrecy."

NEV^ ARABIAN NIGHTS.

The President was somewhat affected by these com-
pliments from one of his Highness's superior bearing.
He acknowledged them almost with humihty.

"Poor Malthy !" he added, "I shall hardly know
the club without him. The most of my patrons are
boys, sir, and poetical boys, who are not much com-
pany for me. Not but what Malthy had some poetry,
too ; but it was of a kind that I could understand."

" I can readily imagine you should find yourself in
sympathy with Mr. Malthus," returned the Prince
" He struck me as a man of a very original disposi*
lion."

The young man of the cream tarls was in the room,
but painfully depressed and silent. His late com-
panions sought in vain to lead him into conversation.

" How bitterly I wish," he cried, " that 1 had never
brought you to this infamous abode ! Begone, while
you are ciean-handed. If you could have heard the
old man scream as he fell, and the noise of his bones
upon the pavement ! Wish me, if you have any kind-
ness to so fallen a being — wish the ace of spades for
me to-night ! "

A few more members dropped in as the evening
went on, hut the club did not muster more than the
devil's dozen when they took their places at the table.
The Prince was again conscious of a certain joy in his
alarms ; but he was astonished to see Geraldine sr
much more self -possessed than on the night before.

"It is extraordinary," thought the Prince, "that a
win, made or unmade, should so greatly influence a
young man's spirit."

" Attention, gentlemen !" said the President, and he
began to deal.

Three times the cards went all round the table, and
neither of the marked cards had yet fallen from his
hand. The excitement as he began the fourth dis-
tribution was overwhelming. There were just cards
enough to go once more entirely round. The Prince,
who sat second from the dealer's left, would receive,

J

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

in the reverse mode of dealing practiced at the club,
the second last card. The third player turned up a
black ace — it was the ace of clubs. The next received
a diamond, the next a heart, and so on ; but the ace of
spades was still undelivered. At last Geraldine, who
sat upon the Prince's left, turned his card ; it was an
ace, but the ace of hearts.

When Prince FJorizel saw his fate upon the table in
front of him, his heart stood still. He was a brave
man, but the sweat poured off his face. There were
exactly fifty chances out of a hundred that he was
doomed. He reversed the card ; it was the ace of
spades. A loud roaring filled his brain, and the table
swam before his eyes. He heard the player on his
right break into a fit of laughter that sounded between
mirth and disappointment ; he saw the company
rapidly dispersing, but his mind was full of other
thoughts. He recognized how foolish, how criminal,
had been his conduct. In perfect health, in the prime
of his years, the heir to a throne, he hr.d gambled
away his future and that of a brave and loyal country,
"God," he cried, " God forgive me!" And with that,
the confusion of his senses passed, away, and he
regained his self-possession in a moment.

To his surprise Geraldine had disappeared. There
was no one in the card-room but his destined butcher
consulting with the President, and the young man of
the cream tarts, who slipped up to the Prince and
whispered in his ear :

" I would give a million, if I had it, for your luck."

His Highness could not help reflecting, as the
young man departed, that he would have sold his
opportunity for a much more moderate sum.

The whispered conference now came to an end.
The holder of the ace of clubs left the room with a
look of intelligence, and the President, approaching
the unfortunate Prince, proffered him his hand.

" I am pleased to have met you, sir," said he, " and
pleased to have been in a position to do you this tri-

33 NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

fling service. At least, you cannot complain of delay.
On the second evening — what a stroke of luck !"

The Prince endeavored in vain to articulate some-
thing in response, but his mouth was dry and hia
tongue seemed paralyzed.

"You leel a little sickish?" asked the President,
with some show of solicitude. " Most gentlemen do.
Will you take a little brandy ?"

The Prince signified in the affirmative, and the other
immediately filled some of the spirit into a tumbler.

"Poor old Malthy !" ejaculated the President, as y

the Prince drained the glass. " He drank near upon
a pint, and little enough good it seemed to do him !"

"I am more amenable to treatment," said ihe Prince,a I

good deal revived. " I am my own man again at \

once, as you perceive. And so, let me ask you, what
are my directions ?" I

" You will proceed along the Strand in the direction
of the City, and on the left-hand pavement, until you I

meet the gentleman who has just left the room. He
will continue your instructions, and him you will have i

the kindness to obey ; the authority of the club is
vested in his person for the night. And now," added
the President, " I wish you a pleasant walk." I

Florizel acknowledged the salutation rather awk- |

wardly, and took his leave. He passed through the
smoking-room, where the bulk of the players were
still consuming champagne, some of which he had him-
self ordered and paid for; and he was surprised to find
himself cursing them in his heart. He pmoii his hat and
great coat in the cabinet, and selected his umbrella from
a corner. The familiarity of these acts, and the thought
that he was about them for the last lime, betrayed him
into a fit of laughter which sounded unpleasantly in
his own ears. He conceived a reluctance to leave the
cabinet, and turned instead to the window. The sight
of the lamps and the darkness recalled him to himself.

"Come, come, I must be a man," he thought, "and
tear myself away."

:lf. I

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

33

£ Court thi

men fell upon

}us!y thrust into
rapidly away. There

s pardon my zeal ?" said a well-

At the comer of Be
Prince Florizel and he w
a carriage, which at on(
was already an occupar

" Will your Highnt
known voice.

The Prince threw himself upon the Colonel's neck in
a passion of relief.

" How can I ever thank you ?" he cried. " And how
was this effected ?"

Although he had been willing to march upon his
doom, he was overjoyed to yield to friendly violence,
and return once more to life and hope.

" You can thank me effectually enough," replied the
Colonel, " by avoiding all such dangers in the future.
And as (or your second question, all has been managed
by the simplest means. I arranged this afternoon with
a celebrated detective. Secrecy has been promised
and paid for. Your own servants have been princi-
pally engaged in the affair. The house in Box Court
has been surrounded since nightfall, and this, which is
one of your own carriages, has been awaiting you for
nearly an hour."

" And the miserable creature who was to have slain
me — what of him ?" inquired the Prince.

" He was pinioned as he left the club," repHed the
Colonel, " and now awaits your sentence at the PaJace,
where he will soon be joined by his accomplices, "

" Geraldine," said the Prince, " you have saved me
against my explicit orders, and you have done well. I
owe you not only my life, but a lesson ; and I should
be unworthy of my rank if I did not show myself grate-
ful to my teacher. Let it be yours to choose the man-
ner."

There was a pause, during which the carriage con-
tinued to speed through the streets, and the two men
were each buried in his own reflections. The silence
was broken by Colonel Geraldine.

" Your Highness," said he, " has by this time a

34 ;r£H' ARABIAN NIGHTS.

considerable body of prisoners. There is at least on^
criminal among the number to whom justice should be
dealt. Our oath fovbids us all recourse to law ; and
discretion would forbid it equally if the oath were
loosened. May I inquire your Highness's intention ?"

" It is decided," answered Florizel ; " the President
must fall in duel. It only remains to choose his adver-
sary."

' Your Highness has permitted me to name my own
recompense," said the Colonel. " Will he permit me
to ask the appointment of my brother ? It is an
honorable post, but I dare assure your Highness that
the lad wilt acquit himself with credit."

" You ask me an ungracious favor," said the Prince,
"but I must refuse you nothing,"

'I'he Colonel kissed his hand with the greatest affec-
tion ; and at that moment the carriage tolled under the
archway of the Prince's splendid residence.

An hour after, Florizel in his official robes, and
covered with all the orders of Bohemia, received the
members of the Suicide Club.

"Foolish and wicked men," said he, "as many of
you as have been driven into this strait by the lack of
fortune shall receive employment and remuneration
from my officers. Those who suffer under a sense of
guilt must have recourse to a higher and more gener-
ous Potentate than I. I feel pity for all of you, deeper
than you can imagine ; to-morrow you shall tell me
your stories ; and as you answer more frankly, I shall
be the more able to remedy your misfortunes. As for
you," he added, turning to the President, "I should
only offend a person of your parts by any offer of assis-
tance ; but 1 have instead a piece of diversion to pro-
pose to you. Here," laying his hand on the shoulder
of Colonel Geraldine's young brother, "Is an officer of
mine who desires to make a little tour upon the Con-
tinent ; and I ask you, as a favor, to accompany him
on this excursion. Do you," he went on, changing his
tone, " dg you shoot well with the pistol ? Because

J

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

35

yon may have need of that accomplishment. When two
men go traveling together, it is best to be prepared for
all. Let me add that, if by any chance you should
lose young Mr. Geraldine upon the way, I shall always
have another member of my household to place at
your disposal; and I am known, Mr. President, to have
long eyesight, and as long an arm."

With these words, said with ranch sternness, the
Prince concluded his address. Next morning the
members of the club were suitably provided for by his
munificence, and the President set fOrth upon his
travels, under the supervision of Mr, Geraldine, and a
pair of faithful and adroit lackeys, well trained in the
Prince's household. Not content with this, discreet
agents were put in possession of the house of Box
Court, and all letters of visitors for the Suicide Club or
its officials were to be examined by Prince Florizel in
person.

Here (says my Arabian author) ends The Story of
THE Young Man with the Ckeam Tarts, who is
turn! a comfortable householder in Wig more Street, Caven-
dish Square. The number, for obvious reasons, I sup-
press. Those who care to pursue the adventures of
Prirue Florizel and the President of the Suicide Club,
may read the History of the Physician and thb
Saratoga Trunk.

STOJ! Y OF THE PHYSICIAN AND THA
SARATOGA TRUNK.

Mr. Silas Q. Scuddainore was a young American of
a simple and harmless disposition, which was the more
to his credit as he came from New England— a quarter
of the New World not precisely famous for those qual-
ities. Although he was exceedingly rich, he kept a
note of all his expenses in a little paper pocket-book ;
and he had chosen to study the attractions of Paris
from the seventh story of what is called a furnished
hotel, in the Latin Quarter. There was a great deal
of habit in his penuriousness ; and his virtue, which
was very remarkable among his associates, was princi-
pally founded upon diffidence and youth.

The next room to his was inhabited by a lady, very
attractive in her air and very elegant in toilette, whom,
on his first arrival, he had taken for a Countess. In
course of time he had learned that she was known by
the name of Madame Z^phyrine, and that whatever
station she occupied in life it was not that of a person
of title. Madame Z^phyrine, probably in the hope of
enchanting the young American, used to flaunt by him
on the stairs with a civil inclination, a word of course,
and a knock-down look out of her black eyes, and
disappear in a rustle of silk, and with the revelation of
an admirable foot and ankle. But these advances, so
far from encouraging Mr. Scuddamore, plunged him
into the depths of depression and bashfulness. She
had come to him several times for a light, or to apolo-
gize for the imaginary depredations of her poodle ; but
his mouth was closed in the presence of so superior a
being, his French promptly left him, and he could
only stare and stammer until she was gone. The slen-
s of their intercourse did not prevent him from

36

J

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

37

throwing out insinuations of a very glorious order
when he was safely alone with a fewmales.

The room on the other side of the American's — for
there were three rooms on a floor in the hotel — was ten-
anted by an old Enghsh physician of rather doubtful
reputation. Dr. Noel, for that was his name, had been
forced to leave London, where he enjoyed a large and
increasing practice ; and it was hinted that the police
had been the instigators of this change of scene. At
least he, who had made something of a figure in earliei
life, now dwelt in the Latin Quarter in great simplicity
and solitude, and devoted much of his time to study.
Mr. Scuddamore had made liis acquaintance, and the
pair would now and then dine together frugally in a
restaurant across the street.

Silas Q. Scuddamore had many little vices of the
more respectable order, and was not restrained by deli-
cacy from indulging them in many rather doubtful
ways. Chief among his foibles stood curiosity. He
was a born gossip ; and life, and especially those parts
of it in which he had no experience, interested him to
the degree of passion. He was a pert, invincible ques-
tioner, pushing his inquiries with equal pertinacity and
indiscretion ; he had been observed, when he took a
letter to the post, to weigh it in his hand, to turn it
over and over, and to study the address with care ;
and when lie found a flaw in the partition between his
room and Madame Z^phyrine's, instead of filling it up,
he enlarged and improved the opening, and made use
of it as a spy-hole on his neighbor's affairs.

One day, in the end of March, his curiosity growing
as it was indulged, he enlarged the hole a little further,
so that he might command another comer of the room.
That evening, when he went as usual to inspect Madame
Z^phyrine's movements, he was astonished to find the
aperture obscured in an odd manner on the other side,
and still more abashed when the obstacle was suddenly
withdrawn and a titter of laughter reached his ears.
Some of the plaster had evidently betrayed the secret

k

38 NE W ARABIAN NIGHTS.

of his spy-hole, and his neighbor had been returnTm
the compliment in kind. Mr. Scuddamore was moved
to a very acuCe feeling of annoyance ; he condemned
Madame Z^phyrine unmercifully ; he even blamed
himself; but when he found, next day, that she had
taken no means to baulk him of his favorite pastime,
he continued to profit by her carelessness, and gratify
his idle curiosity.

That next day Madame Z^phyrine received a long
visit from a tall, loosely-built man of fifty or upwards,
whom Silas had not hitherto seen. His tweed suit and
colored shirt, no less than his shaggy side -whiskers,
identified him as a Britisher, and his dull gray eye
affected Silas with a sense of cold. He kept screwing
his mouth from side to side and round and round
during the whole colloquy, which was carried on in
whispers. More than once it seemed to the young New
Englander as if their gestures indicated his own apart-
ment ; but the only thing definite he couid gather by
the most scrupulous attention was this remark made
by the Englishman in a somewhat higher key, as if in
answer to some reluctance or opposition.

" I have studied his taste to a nicety, and I tell you
again and again you are the only woman of the sort
that I can lay my hands on."

In answer to this, Madame Z^phyrine sighed, and
appeared by a gesture to resign herself, like one yield-
ing to unqualified authority.

That afternoon the observatory was finally blinded,
a wardrobe having been drawn in front of it upon the
other side , and while Silas was still lamenting over
this misfortune, which he attributed to the Britisher's
malign suggestion, the concierge brought him up a let-
ter in a female handwriting. It was conceived in
French of no very rigorous orthography, bore no signa-
ture, and in the most encouraging terms invited the
young American to be present in a certain part of the
Bullier Ball at eleven o'clock that night. Curiosity
and timidity fought a long battle in his heart ; some-

THE smCIDE CLUB.

39

times he was all virtue, sometimes all fire and daring ;
and the result of it was that, long before ten, Mr. Silas
Q. Scuddamore presented himself in unimpeachable
attire at the door of the BuUier Ball Rooms, and paid
his entry money with a sense of reckless deviltry thai
was not without its charm.

It was Carnival time, and the Ball was very full and
noisy. The lights and the crowd at first rather abashed
our young adventurer, and then, mounting to his brain
with a sort of intoxication, put him in possession of more
than his own share of manhood. He felt ready to face
the devil, and strutted in the ballroom with the swag-
ger of a cavalier. While he was thus parading, he
became aware of Madame Z^phyrine and her Britisher
in conference behind a pillar. The cat-like spirit of
eaves-dropping overcame him at once. He stole nearer
and nearer on the couple from behind, until he was
within earshot.

" That is the man," the Britisher was saying ; " there
— with the long blond hair — speaking to a girl in

Silas identified a very handsome young fellow of
small stature, who was plainly the object of this desig-
nation.

" It is well," said Madame Z6phyrine. " I shall do
my utmost- But, rememberj the best of us may fail in
such a matter."

"Tut!" returned her companion; "I answer fot
the result. Have I not chosen you from thirty ? Go ;
but be wary of the Prince. I cannot think what cursed
accident has brought him here to-night. As if there
were not a dozen balls in Paris better worth his notice
than this riot of students and counter-jumpers ! See
him where he sits, more like a reigning Emperor at
home than a Prince upon his holidays ! "

Silas was again lucky. He observed a person of
rather a full build, strikingly handsome, and of a very
stately and courteous demeanor, seated at table with
another handsome young man, several years his junior;

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

who addressed him with conspicuous deference. The
name of Prince struck gratefully on Silas's Republican
hearing, and the aspect of the person to whom that
name was applied exercised its usual charm upon his
mind. He left Madame Zephyrine and her English-
man to take care of each other, and threading his way
through the assembly, approached the table which the
Prince and his confidant had honored with their choice.

" I tell you, Geialdine," the former was saying, "the
action is madness. Yourself {I am glad to remember
it) chose your brother for this perilous service, and you
are bound in duty to have a guard upon his conduct.
He has consented to delay so many days in Paris; that
was already an imprudence, considering the characler
of the man he has to deal with ; but now, when he is
within eight and forty hours of his departure, when he
is within two or three days of the decisive trial, I ask
you, is this a place for him to spend his time? He
should be in a gallery at practice ; he should be sleep-
ing long hours and taking moderate exercise on foot ;
he should be on a rigorous diet, without white wines
or brandy. Does the dog imagine we are all playing
comedy ? The thing is deadly earnest, Geraldine."

" I know the lad too well to interfere," replied Colonel
Geraldine, " and well enough not to be alarmed. He
is more cautious than you fancy, and of an indomit-
able spirit. If it had been a woman I should not say
so much, but I trust the President to him and the two
valets without an instant's apprehension."

" I am gratified to hear you say so," replied the
Prince ; "but my mind is not at rest. These servants
are well-trained spies, and already has not this mis-
creant succeeded three times in eluding their observa-
tion and spending several hours on end in private, and
most likely dangerous, affairs ? An amateur mighl
have lost hira by accident, but if Rudolpli and Jerome
were thrown off the scent, it must have been done on
purpose, and by a man who had a cogent reason and
exceptional resources."

taL

THE SUICIDE CLUB. 41

i Tjelieve the question is now one between my
brother and myself," replied Geraldine, with a shade
of offense in his tone.

'■ I permit it to be &o. Colonel Geraldine," returned
Prince Florizel. " Perhaps, for that very reason, you
should be all the more ready to accept my counsels.
But enough. That girl in yellow dances well."

And the talk veered into the ordinary topics of a
Paris ballroom in the Carnival.

Silas remembered where he was, and that the hour
was already near at hand when he ought to be upon
the scene of his assignation. The more he reflected
the less he liked the prospect, and as at that moment
an eddy in the crowd began to draw him in the direc-
tion of the door, he suffered it to carry him away
without resistance. The eddy stranded him in a cor-
ner under the gallery, where his ear was immediately
struck with the voice of Madame Z^phyrine. She
was speaking in French with the young man of the
blond locks who had been pointed out by the strange
Sritisher not half an hour before.

" I have a character at stake," she said, " or I would
put no other condition than my heart recommends.
But you have only to say so much to the porter, and
he will let you go by without a word."

" Butwhy this talk of debt ?" objected her companion.

"Heavens!" said she, "do you think I do not
understand my own hotel ? "

And she went by, clinging affectionately to her
companion's arm.

This put Silas in mind of his billet.

" Ten minutes hence," thought he, "and I may be
walking with as beautiful a woman as that, and even
better dressed — perhaps a real lady, possibly a woman
of title."

And then he remembered the spelling, and was a
little downcast.

" Bat it may have been written by her maid," h«
imagined.

The clock was only a few minutes from the how,
and this immediate proximiiy set his heart beating at
a. curious and rather disagreeable speed He reflected
with relief that he was in no way bound to put in an
appearance. Virtue and cowardice were together, and
he made once more for the door, but this time of his
own accord, and battling against the stream of people
which was now moving in a contrary direction. Per-
haps this prolonged resistance wearied him, or perhaps
he was in that frame of mind when merely to continue
in the same determination for a certain number of
minutes produces a reaction and a different purpose.
Certainly, at least, he wheeled about for a third time,
and did not stop until he had found a place of con-
cealment within a few yards of the appointed place.

Here he went through an agony of spirit, in which
he several times prayed to God for help, for Silas had
been devoutly educated. He had now not the least
inclination for the meeting ; nothing kept him from
flight but a silly fear lest he should be thought un-
manly ; but this was so powerful that it kept head
against all other motives; and although it could not
decide him to advance, prevented him from definitely
running away. At last the clock indicated ten min-
utes past the hour. Young Scuddamore's spirit began
to rise; he peered round the comer and saw no one at
the place of meeting; doubtless his unknown corre-
spondent had wearied and gone away. He became as
bold as he had formerly been timid. It seemed to him
that if he came at all to the appointment, however
late, he was clear from the charge of cowardice. Nay,
now he began to suspect a hoax, and actually compli-
mented himself on his shrewdness in having suspected
and out-man 05 uv red his mystifiers. So very idle a
thing is a boy's mind!

Armed with these reflections, he advanced boldly
from his comer; but he had not taken above a couple
of steps before a hand was laid upon his arm. He
turned and beheld a lady cast in a very large mould

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

and with somewhat stately features, but bearing no
mark of severity in her looks.

" I see that you are a very self-confident lady-
killer," said she; "for you make yourself expected.
But I was determined to meet you. When a woman
has once so far forgotten herself as to make the first
advance, she has long ago left behind her all consid-
erations of petty pride."

Silas was overwhelmed by the size and attractions
of his correspondent and the suddenness with which
she had fallen upon him. But she soon set him at his
ease. She was very towardly and lenient in her beha-
vior; she led him on to make pleasantries, and then
applauded him Co the echo; and in a very short time,
between blandishments and a libera! exhibition of
warm brandy, she had not only induced him to fancy
himself in love, but to declare his passion with the
greatest vehemence.

"Alas!" she said; "I do not know whether I
ought not to deplore this moment, great as is the
pleasure you give me by your words. Hitherto I
was alone to suffer; now, poor boy, there will be two.
I am not my own mistress. I dare not ask you to
visit me at my own house, for I am watched byjeaious
eyes. Let me see," she added; " I am older than you,
although so much weaker; and while I trust in your
courage and determination, I must employ my own
knowledge of the world for our mutual benefit. Where
do you live ? "

He told her that he lodged in a furnished hotel, and
named the street and number.

She seemed to reflect for some minutes, with an
effort of mind.

"I see," she said at last, " Vou will be faithful and
obedient, wilt you not ? "

Silas assured her eagerly of his fidelity,

"To-morrow night, then," she continued, with an
encouraging smile, " you must remain at home all the
evening; and if any friends should visit you, dismiss

44 NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

them it once on any pretext that most readily presenS
itself Your door is probably shut by ten ? " she asked.

" By eleven," answered Silas.

"At a quarter past eleven," pursued the lady, " leave
the house. Merely cry for the door to be opened, and
be sure you fall into no talk with the porter, as that
might ruin everything. Go straight to the comer
where the Luxembourg Gardens join the Boulevard;
there you will find me waiting you. I trust you to fol-
low my advice from point to point: and remember, if
you fail me in only one particular, you will bring the
sharpest trouble on a woman whose only fault is to
have seen and loved you."

" I cannot see the use of all these instructions,"
said Silas.

"I believe you are already beginning to treat me as
a master," she cried, tapping him with her fan upon
the arm. " Patience, patience ! that should come in
time. A woman loves to be obeyed at first, although
afterwards she finds her pleasure in obeying. Do as I
ask you, for Heaven's sake, or I will answer for noth-
ing. Indeed, now I think of it," she added, with the
manner of one who had just seen further into a diffi-
culty, " I find a better plan of keeping importunate
visitors away. Tell the porter to admit no one for
you, except a person who may come that night to
claim a debt; and speak with some feeling, as though
you feared the interview, so that he may take your
words in earnest."

" I think you may trust me to protect myself against
intruders," he said, not without a little pique.

" That is how I should prefer the thing arranged,"
she answered, coldly. "I know you men; you think
nothing of a woman's reputation."

Silas blushed and somewhat hung his head; for the
scheme he had in view had involved a little vain-glory-
ing before his acquaintances.

Above all," she added, " do not speak to the por-
ter as you come out."

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

45

"And why? "said he, ''Of all your instructions,
that seems to me the least important"

" You at first doubted the wisdom of sorae of the
others, which you now see to be very necessary," she
replied. "Believe me, this also lias its uses; in time
you will see them; and what am I to think of your
affection, if you refuse me such trifles at our first inter-
view ? "

Silas confounded himself in explanations and apolo-
gies; in the middle of these she looked up at the clock
and clapped her hands together with a suppressed

" Heavens ! " she cried, " is it so late ? I have not
an instant to lose. Alas, we poor women, what slaves
we are ! What have I not risked for you already?"

And after rep«ating her directions, which she art-
fully combined with caresses and the most abandoned
looks, she bade him farewell and disappeared among
the crowd.

The whole o£ the next day Silas was filled with a
sense of great importance; he was now sure she was a
countess; and when evening came he minutely obeyed
her orders and was at the comer of the Luxembourg
Gardens by the hour appointed. No one was there.
He waited nearly half an hour, looking in the face of
everyone who passed or loitered near the spot; he
even visited the neighboring corners of the Boulevard
and made a complete circuit of the garden railings;
but there was no beautiful countess to throw herself
into his arms. At last, and most reluctantly, he began
to retrace his steps towards his hotel. On the way he
remembered the words he had heard pass between
Madame Z^phyrine and the blond young man, and
they gave him an indefinite uneasiness.

' It appears," he reflected, " that everyone has to
tell lies to our porter."

He rang the bell, the door opened before Hm,
and the porter in his bed-clothes came to offer him a
light.

46 NEiV ARABIAN NIGHTS.

" Has he gone ? " inquired the porter.

" He ? Whom do you mean ? " asked Silas, some-
what sharply, for he was irritated by his disappoint-
ment.

" I did not notice him go out," continued the porter,
"but I trust you paid him. We do not care, in this
house, to have lodgers who cannot meet their liabil-

"What the devil do you mean ?" demanded Silas,
rudely. " I cannot understand a word of this farrago."

" The short, blond young man who came for his
debt," returned the other. "Him it is I mean. Who
else should it be, when I had your orders to admit no
one else ? "

" Why, good God, of course he never came," retorted
Silas.

" I believe what I believe," retorted the porter,
putting his tongue into his cheek with a most roguish
air.

"You are an insolent scoundrel," cried Silas, and,
feeling that he had made a ridiculous exhibition of
asperity, and at the same time bewildered by a dozen
alarms, he turned and began to run up stairs.

" Do you not want a light then ? " cried the porter.

But Silas only hurried the faster, and did not pause
until he had reached the seventh landing and stood in
front of his own door. There he waited a moment to
recover his breath, assailed by the worst forebodings
and almost dreading to enter the room.

When at last he did so he was relieved to find it
dark, and to all appearance, untenanted. He drew a
long breath. Here he was, home again in safety, and
this should be his last folly as certainly as it had been
his first. The matches stood on a little table by the
bed, and he began to grope his way in that direction.
As he moved, his apprehensions grew upon him once
more, and he was pleased, when his foot encountered
obstacle, to find it nothing more alarming than a
chair. At last he touched curtains. From the posi-

tion of the window, which was faintly visible, he knew
he must be at the foot of the bed, and had only to feel
his way along it in order to reach the table in qtiestian.
He lowered his hand, but what he touched was not
simply a counterpane — it was a counterpane with
something underneath it like the outline of a human
leg. Silas withdrew his arm and stood a moment pet-

"What, what," he thought, "can this betoken?"

He listened intently, but there was no sound of
breathing. Once more, with a great effort, be reached
out the end of his finger to the spot he had already
touched ; but this time he leaped back half a yard,
and stood shivering and fixed with terror. There was
something in his bed. What it was he knew not, but
there was something there.

It was some seconds before he could move. Then,
guided by an instinct, he fell straight upon the matches,
and keeping his back toward the bed, hghted a candle.
As soon as the flame had kindled, he turned slowly
round and looked for what he feared to see. Sure
enough, there was the worst of his imaginations real-
ized. The coverlid was drawn carefully up over the
pillow, but it moulded the outline of a human body
lying motionless; and when he dashed forward and
flung aside the sheets, he beheld the blond young man
whom he had seen in the Eullier Ball the night before,
his eyes open and without speculation, bis face swollen
and blackened, and a thin stream of blood trickling
from his nostrils.

Silas uttered a long, tremulous wail, dropped the
candle, and fell on his knees beside the bed.

Silas was awakened from the stupor into which his
terrible discovery had plunged him, by a prolonged
but discreet tapping at the door. It took him some
seconds to remember his position ; and when he has-
tened to prevent anyone from entering it was already
too late. Dr. Noel, in a tall nightcap, carrying a lamp
which lighted up his long white countenance, sidling

4S NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

in his gait, and peering and cocking his head like soffl
sort of bird, pushed the door slowly open, and
advanced into the middle of the room.

" I thought I heard a cry," began the Doctor, " and
fearing you might be unwell, I did not hesitate to
offer this intrusion."

Silas, with a flushed (ace and a fearful beating lieart,
kept between the Doctor and the bed ; but he found
no voice to answer.

"You are in the dark," pursued the Doctor; "and
yet you have not even begun to prepare for rest. You
will not easily persuade me against my own eyesight ;
and your face declares most eloquently that you
require either a friend or a physician — which is it to
be ? Let me feel your pulse, for that is often a just
reporter of the heart."

He advanced to Silas, who still retreated before him
backwards, and sought to take him by the wrist ? but
the strain on the young American's nerves had becopne
too great for endurance. He avoided the Doctor with
a febrile movement, and, throwing himself upon the
floor, burst into a flood of weeping.

As soon as Dr. Noel perceived the dead man in the
bed his face darkened ; and hurrying back to the door
which he had left ajar, he hastily closed and double-
locked it.

" Up! " he cried, addressing Silas in strident tones.
" This is no time for weeping. What have you done ?
How came this body in your room ? Speak freely to
one who may be helpful. Do you imagine I would
ruin you? Do you think this piece of dead flesh on
your pillow can alter in any degree the sympathy with
which you have inspired me ? Credulous youth, the
horror with which blind and unjust law regards an
action never attaches to the doer in the eyes of those
who love him; and if I saw the friend of my heart
return to me out of seas of blood he would be in no
way changed in my affection. Raise yourself," he
said; " good and ill are a chimera; there is naught in

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

49

life except destiny, and however you may be circum-
stanced there is one at your side who will help you to
the last."

Thus encouraged, Silas gathered himself together,
and in a broken voice, and helped out by the Doctor's
interrogations, contrived at last to put him in posses-
sion of the facts. But the conversation between the
Prince and Geraldine he altogether omitted, as he
had understood little of its pur]Jort, and had no idea
that it was in any way related to his own misadventure.

"Alas ! " cried Dr. Noel, " I am much abused, or
you have fallen innocently into the most dangerous
hands in Europe. Poor boy, what a pit has been dug
for your simplicity ! into what a deadly peril have
your unwary feet been conducted ! This man," he
said, "this Englishman, wliom you twice saw, and
whom I suspect to be the soul of the contrivance, can
you describe him ? Was he young or old ? tal! or
short ? "

But Silas, who, for ail his curiosity, had not a see-
ing eye in his head, was able to supply nothing but
meagre generalities, which it was impossible to recog-
nize.

" I would have it a piece of education in all
schools ! " cried the Doctor angrily. " Where is the
use of eyesight and articulate speech if a man cannot
observe and recollect the features of his enemy ? I,
who know all the gangs of Europe, might have iden-
tified him, and gained new weapons for your defence.
Cultivate this art in future, my poor boy; you may find
it of momentous service."

" The future ! " repeated Silas. " What future is
there left for me except the gallows ? "

" Youth is but a cowardly season," returned the
Doctor; "and a man's own troubles look blacker than
they are. I am old, and yet I never despair."

' Can I tell such a story to the police ?" demanded
Silas.

" Assuredly not," replied the Doctor, " From what

so NE If ARABIAN NIGHTS.

I see already of the machination in which you have
been involved, your case is desperate upon that side;
and for the narrow eye of the authorities you are
infallibly the guilty person. And remember that we
only know a portion of the plot; and the same infa-
mous contrivers have doubtless arranged many other
circumstances which would be elicited by a police
inquiry, and help to fix the guilt more certainly upon
your innocence."

" I am then lost, indeed ! " cried Silas.

" I have not said so," answered Dr. Noel, " for I am
a cautious man."

"But look at this!" objected Silas, pointing to the
body. " Here is this object in my bed: not to be
explained, not to be disposed of, not to be regarded
without horror."

" Horror ? " replied the Doctor. " No. When this
sort of clock has run down, it is no more to me than an
ingenious piece of mechanism, to be investigated with the
bistery. When blood is once cold and stagnant, it is
no longer human blood; when flesh is once dead, it is
no longer that flesh which we desire in our lovers and
respect in our friends. The grace, the attraction, the
terror, have all gone from it with the animating spirit.
Accustom yourself to look upon it with composure;
for if my scheme is practicable you will have to live
in constant proximity to that which now so greatly
horrifies you."

" Your scheme ? " cried Silas. " What is that ? Tell
me speedily, Doctor; for I have scarcely courage
enough to conrinue to exist,"

Without replying, Dr. Noel turned towards the bed,
and proceeded to examine the corpse.

"Quite dead," he murmured. "Yes, as I had sup-
posed, the pockets empty. Yes, and the name cut off
the shirt. Their work has been done thoroughly and
well. Fortunately he is of small stature."

Silas followed these words with an extreme anxiety.
At last the Doctor, his autopsy completed, took

J

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

.," said he, "although

;n so busy, I have not

I noted a little while

Tier, one of those mon-

fellow-cou ntrymen

;i chair and addressed the young American with a
smile.

" Since I came into your room
my ears and my tongue have bee
suffered my eyes to remain idle,
ago that you have there, in the com
strous constructions which youi
carry with them into all quarters of the globe-
word, a Saratoga trunk. Until this moment I have
never been able to conceive the utility of these erec-
tions; but then I began to have a glimmer. Whether
it was for convenience in the slave trade, or to obviate
the results of too ready an employment of the bowie-
knife, I cannot bring myself to decide. But one thing
I see plainly — the object of such a box is to contain a
human body."

" Surely," cried Silas, " surely this is not a time for
jesting."

" Although I may express myself with some degree
of pleasantry," replied the Doctor, "the purport of
my words is entirely serious. And the first thing we
have to do, my young friend, is to empty your coffer
of all it contains."

Silas, obeying the authority of Doctor Noel, put
himself at his disposition. The Saratoga trunk was
soon gutted of its contents, which made a considerable
litter on the floor; and then — Silas taking the heels
and the Doctor supporting the shoulders — the body of
the murdered man was carried from the bed, and,
after some difficulty, doubled up and inserted whole
into the empty box. With an effort on the part of
both, the lid was forced down upon this unusual bag-
gage, and the trunk was locked and corded by the
Doctor's own hand, while Silas disposed of what had
been taken out between the closet and a chest of
drawers.

" Now," said the Doctor, " the first step has been
taken on the way to your deliverance. To-morrow,
or rather to-day, it must be your task to allay the sus-

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

picions of your porter, paying him all that you owei
while you may trust me to make the arrangements nec-
essary to a safe conclusion. Meantime, follow me to
my room, where I shall give you a safe and powerful
opiate; for, whatever you do, you must have rest,"

The next day was the longest in Silas's memory; it
seemed as if it would never be done- He denied him-
self to his friends, and sat in a corner with his eyes
fixed upon the Saratoga trunk in dismal contempla-
tion. His own former indiscretions were now returned
upon him in kind; for the observatory had been once
more opened, and he was conscious of an almost con-
tinual study from Madame Z^phyrine's apartment
So distressing did this become, that he was at last
obliged to block up the spy-hole from his own side;
and when he was thus secured from observation he
spent a considerable portion of his time in contrite
tears and prayer.

Late in the evening Dr. Noel entered the room car-
rying in his hand a pair of sealed envelopes without
address, one somewhat bulky, and the other so slim as
to seem without enclosure.

"Silas," he said, sealing himself at the table, " the
time has now come for me to explain my plan for
your salvation. To-morrow morning, at an early hour,
Prince Florizel of Bohemia returns to London, after
having diverted himself for a few days with the
Parisian Carnival, It was my fortune, a good while ago,
to do Colonel Geraldine, his Master of the Horse, one
of those services so common in my profession, which
are never forgotten upon either side, I have no need
to explain to you the nature of the obligation under
which he was laid; suffice it lo say that I knew him
ready to serve me in any practicable manner. Now, it
was necessary for you to gain London with your
trunk unopened. To this the Custom House seemed
to oppose a fatal difficulty; but I bethought me that
the baggage of so considerable a person as the Prince,
is, as a matter of courtesy, passed withoi

' ^

M

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

S3

tion by the officers of Custom. I applied to Colonel
Geraldine, and succeeded in obtaining a favorable
answer. To-morrow, if you go before six to the hotel
where the Prince lodges, your baggage will be passed
over as a part of his, and you yourself will make the
journey as a member of his suite."

" It seems to me, as you speak, Ihat I have already
seen both the Prince and Colonel Geraldine; I even
overheard some of their conversation the other even-
ing at the Bullier Ball."

" It is probable enough; for the Prince loves to mix
with all societies," replied the Doctor, " Once arrived
in London," he pursued, "your task is nearly ended.
In this more bulky envelope I have given you a letter
which I dare not address; but in the other you will
find the designation of the house to which you must
carry it along with your box, which will there be taken
from you and not trouble you any more,"

"Alas!" said Silas, "I have every wish to believe
you; but how is it possible? You open up to me a
bright prospect, but, I ask you, is my mind capable of
receiving so unlikely a solution ? Be more generous,
and let me farther understand your meaning."

The Doctor seemed painfully impressed.

" Boy," he answered, " you do not know how hard a
thing you ask of me. But be it so. I am now inured
to humiliation; and it would be strange if I refused
you this, after having granted you so much. Know,
then, that alihough I now make so quiet an appear-
ance — frugal, solitary, addicted to study — when I was
younger, my name was once a rallying-cry among the
most astute and dangerous spirits of London; and
while I was outwardly an object for respect and con-
sideration, my true power resided in the most secret,
terrible, and criminal relations. It is one of the per-
sons who then obeyed me that I now address myseli
to deliver you from your burden. They were men of
many different nations and dexterities, all bound
together by a formidable oath, and working to the

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

same purposes; the trade of the association was in
murder; and I who speak to you, innocent as I
appear, was the chieftain of this redoubtable crew."

"What?" cried Silas. "A murderer? And. one
with whom murder was a trade ? Can I take your
hand? Ought I to so much as accept your services?
Dark and criminal old man, would you make an accom'
plice of my youth and my distress ? "

The Doctor bitterly laughed.

" You are difficult to please, Mr. Scuddaraore," said
he; "but I now offer you your choice of company
between the murdered man and the murderer. If
your conscience is too nice to accept my aid, say so,
and I wi!l immediately leave you. Thenceforward
you can deal with your trunk and its belongings as
best suits your upright conscience."

"I own myself wrong," replied Silas. "I should
have remembered how generously you ofEered to shield
me, even before I had convinced you o£ my inno-
cence, and I continue to listen to your connsels with
gratitude."

" That is well," returned the Doctor; "and I per-
ceive you are beginning to learn some of the lessons
of experience,"

"At the same time," resumed the New-Euglander,
" as you confess yourself accustomed to this tragical
business, and the people to whom you recommend me
are your own former associates and friends, could you
not yourself undertake the transport of the box, and
rid me at once of its detested presence ? "

"Upon my word," replied the Doctor, "I admire
you cordially. If you do not think I have already
meddled sufficiently in your concerns, believe me,
from my heart I think the contrary. Take or leave
my services as I offer them; and trouble me with no
more words of gratitude, for I value your consideration
even more lightly than I do your intellect. A time
will come, if you should be spared to see a number of
years in health and mind, when you will think differ-

I t

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

ently of all this, and blush for your to-night's beha-
vior."

So saying, the Doctor arose from his chair, repeated
his directions briefly and clearly, and departed from
the room without permitting Silas any time to answer.

The next morning Silas presented himself at the
hotel, where he was politely received by Colonel Ger-
aldine, and relieved, from that moment, of ail imme-
diate alarm about his trunk and its grisly contents.
The journey passed over without much incident,
although the young man was horrified to overhear the
sailors and railway porters complaining among them-
selves about the unusual weight of the Prince's bag-
gage. Silas traveled in a carriage with the valets, for
Prince Florizel chose to be alone with his Master of
the Horse. On board the steamer, however, Silas
attracted his Highness's attention by the melancholy
of his air and attitude as he stood gazing at the pile of
baggage; for he was still full of disquietude about the
future.

"Thereis a young man," observed the Prince, " who
must have some cause for sorrow."

"That," replied Geraldine, "is the American for
whom I obtained permission to travel with your suite."

"You remind me that I have been remiss in cour-
tesy," said Prince Florizel, and advancing to Silas, he
addressed him with the most exquisite condescension
in these words,

" I was charmed, young sir, to be able to gratify the
desire you made known to me through Colonel Ger-
aldine. Remember, if you please, that I shall be glad
at any future time to lay you under a more serious
obligation."

And then he put some questions as to the political
condition of America, which Silas answered with sense
and propriety.

"You are still a young man," said the Prince; "but
1 observe you to be very serious for your years. Per-
haps you allow your attention to be too much occu-

56 NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

pied with grave studies. But, perhaps, on the other
hand, I am myself indiscreet and touch upon a pain-
ful subject."

" I have certainly cause to be the most miserable of
men," said Silas; "never has a more innocent person
been more dismally abused."

"I will not ask you for your confidence," returned
Prince Florizel. "But do not forget that Colonel
Geraldine's recommendation is an unfailing passport;
and that I am not only willing, but possibly more able
than many others, to do you a service."

Silas was delighted with the amiability of this great
personage; but his mind soon returned upon its gloomy
preoccupations; for not even the favor of a Prince to
a Republican can discharge a brooding spirit of its

The train arrived at Charing Cross, where the offi-
cers of the Revenue respected the baggage of Prince
Florizel in the usual manner. The most elegant
equipages were in waiting ; and Silas was driven,
along with the rest, to the Prince's residence. There
Colonel Geraldine sought him out, and expressed him-
self pleased to have been of any service to a friend of
the physician's, for whom he professed a great consid-
eration,

"I hope," he added, "that you will find none of
your porcelain injured. Special orders were given
along the line to deal tenderly with the Prince's
effects."

And then, directing the servants to place one of the
carriages at the young gentleman's disposal, and at
once to charge the Saratoga trunk upon the dickey,
the Colonel shook hands and excused himself on
account of his occupations in the princely household.

Silas now broke the seal of the envelope containing
the address, and directed the stately footman to drive
him to Box Court, opening off the Strand. It seemed
as if the place were not at all unknown to the man, for
he looked startled and begged a repetition of the order

Jft.

THE SUICIDE CLUB,

57

It was with a heart full of alarms, that Silas mounted
into the luxurious vehicle, and was driven to his des-
tination. The entrance to Box Court was too narrow
for the passage of ,i coach ; it was a mere footway
between railings, with a post at either end. On one of
these posts was seated a man, who at once jumped
down and exchanged a friendly sign with the driver,
while the footman opened the door and inquired of
Siias whether he should take down the Saratoga trunk,
and to what number it should be carried.

" If you please," said Silas. " To number three."

The footman and the man who had been sitting on
the post, even with the aid of Silas himself, had hard
work to carry in the trunk ; and before it was depos-
ited at the door of the house in question, the young
American was horrified to find a score of loiterers
looking on. But he knocked with as good a counte-
nance as he could muster up, and presented the other
envelope to him who opened.

" He is not at home," said \
your letter and returr
to inform you whether and whei
visit. Would you like to le;
added.

" Dearly," cried Silas ; and the next moment he
repented his precipitation, and declared, with equal
emphasis, that he would rather carry the box along
with him to the hotel.

The crowd jeered at his indecision and followed him
to the carriage with insulting remarks ; and Silas, cov-
ered with shame and terror, implored the servants to
conduct him to some quiet and comfortable house of
entertainment in the immediate neighborhood.

The Prince's equipage deposited Silas at the Craven
Hotel in Craven Street, and immediately drove away,
leaving him alone with the servants of the inn. The
only vacant room, it appeared, was a Uttle den up four
pairs of stairs, and looking towards the back. To this
hermitage, with infinite trouble and complaint, a pair

" but if you will leave
early, I shall be able
I he can receive your
.ve your box?" he

$8 NE W ARABIAN NIGHTS,

of stout porters carried the Saratoga trunk. It la
needless to mention that Silas kept closely at their
heels throughout the ascent, and had his heart in his
mouth at every corner. A single false step, he
reflected, and the box might go over the bannisters and
land its fatal contents, plainly discovered, on the pave-
ment of the hall.

Arrived in the room, he sat down on the edge of his
bed to recover from the agony that he had just endured;
but he had hardly taken his position when he was
recalled to a sense of his peril by the action of the
boots, who had knelt beside the trunk, and was
proceeding officiously to undo its elaborate fasten-
ings.

" Let it be ! " cried Silas, " I shall want nothing
from it while I stay here."

" You might have let it lie in the hall, then," growled
the man; "a thing as big and heavy as a church.
What you have inside, I cannot fancy. If it is all
money, you are a richer man than me."

"Money?" repeated Silas, in a sudden perturba-
tion. " What do you mean by money ? I have no
money, and you are speaking like a fool."

"All right, Captain," retorted the boots with a wink.
"There's nobody will touch your lordship's money.
I'm as safe as the bank," he added ; "but as the box
is heavy, I shouldn't mind drinking something to your
lordship's health."

Silas pressed two Napoleons upon his acceptance,
apologizing, at the same time, for being obhged to
trouble him with foreign money, and pleading his
recent arrival for excuse. And the man, grumbling
with even greater fervor, and looking contemptuously
from the money in his hand to the Saratoga trunk and
back again from the one to the other, at last consented
to withdraw.

For nearly two days the dead body had been packed
into Silas's box ; and as soon as he was alone the
unfortunate New-Eng!ander nosed all the cracks and

THE SUICIDE CLUB. sg

openings with the most passionate attention. But the
weather was cool, and the trunk still managed to con-
tain his shocking secret.

He took a chair beside it, and buried his face in his
hands, and his mind in the most profound reflection,
]f he were not speedily relieved, no question but he
must be speedily discovered. Alone in a strange city,
without friends or accomplices, if ihe Doctor's intro-
duction failed him, he was indubitably a lost New-
Englander. He reflected pathetically over his ambi-
tious designs for the future ; he should not now become
the hero and spokesman of his native place of Bangor,
Maine; he should not, as he had fondly anticipated,
move on from office to office, from honor to honor ; he
might as well divest himself at once of all hope of being
acclaimed President of the United States, and leaving
behind him a statue, in the worst possible style of art,
to adorn the Capitol at Washington. Here he was,
chained to a dead Englishman doubled up inside a
Saratoga trunk ; whom he must get rid ot, or perish
from the rolls of national glory !

I should be afraid to chronicle the language employed
by this young man to the Doctor, to the murdered man,
to Madame Z^phyrine, to the boots of the hotel, to the
Prince's servants, and, in a word, to all who had been
ever so remotely connected with his horrible misfor-
tune.

He slunk down to dinner about seven at night ; but
the yellow coffee-room appalled him, the eyes of the
other diners seemed to rest on his with suspicion, and
his mind remained upstairs with the Saratoga trunk.
When the waiter came to offer him cheese, his nerves
were already so much on edge that he leaped half-way
out of his chair and upset the remainder of a pint of
ftle upon the table-cloth.

The fellow offered to show him the smoking-room
when he had done ; and although he would have much
preferred to return at once to his perilous treasure, he
liad not the courage to refuse, and was shown down-

€6

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

Stairs to the black, gas-lit cellar, which formed, and
possibly still forms, the divan of the Craven Hotel.

Two very sad betting men were playing billiards,
attended by a moist, consumptive marker ; and for
the moment Silas imagined that these were the only
occupants of the apartment. But at the next glance
his eye fell upon a person smoking in the farthest cor-
ner, with lowered eyes and a most respectable and
modest aspect. He knew at once that he had seen the
face before ; and in spite of the entire change of
clothes, recognized the man whom he had found seated
on a post at the entrance to Box Court, and who had
helped him to carry the trunk to and from the carriage.
The New-Englander simply turned and ran, nor did he
pause until he had locked and bolted himself into his
bedroom.

There, all night long, a prey to tlie most terrible
imaginations, he watched beside the fatal boxful of
dead flesh. The suggestion of the boots that his tnmk
was full of gold inspired him with all manner of new
terrors, if he so much as dared to close an eye ; and
the presence in the smoking-room, and under an obvious
disguise, of the loiterer from Bok Court convincedhim
thathe was once more the centre of obscure machination.

Midnight had sounded some time, when, impelled
by uneasy suspicions, Silas opened his bedroom door
and peered into the passage. It was dimly illuminated
by a single jet of gas ; and some distance off he per-
ceived a man sleeping on the floor in the costume of an
hotel under-servant. Silas drew near the man on tip-
toe. He lay partly on his back, partly on his side, and
his right forearm concealed his face from recognition.
Suddenly, while the American was still bending over
him, the sleeper removed his arm and opened his eyes,
and Silas found himself once more face to face with
the loiterer of Box Court.

" Good night, sir," said the man, pleasantly.

But Silas was too profoundly moved to find an
uiswer, and regained his room in silence.

THE SUICIDE CLUB. 6i

Towards morning, worn out by apprehension, he fell
asleep on his chair, with his head forward on the trunk.
In spite of so constrained an attitude and such a grisly
pillow, his slumber was sound and prolonged, and he
was only awakened at a late hour and by a sharp tap-
ping at the door.

He hurried to open, and found the boots without.

"You are the gentleman who called yesterday at
Box Court ? " he asked.

Silas, with a quaver, admitted that he had done so.

" Then this note is for you," added the servant, prof*
fering a sealed envelope.

Silas tore it open, and found inside the words :
"Twelve o'clock."

He was punctual to the hour ; the trunk was carried
before him by several stout servants ; and he was him-
self ushered into a room, where a man sat warming him-
self before the fire with his back towards the door. The
sound of so many persons entering and leaving, and the
scraping of the trunk as it was deposited upon the bare
boards, were alike unable to attract the notice of the
occupant ; and Silas stood waiting, in an agony of
fear, until he should deign to recognize his presence.

Perhaps five minutes had elapsed before the man
turned leisurely about, and disclosed the features of
Prince Florizel of Bohemia.

"So, sir," he said with great severity, " this is the
manner in which you abuse my politeness. You join
yourselves to persons of condition, I perceive, for no
Other purpose than to escape the consequences of
your crimes ; and I can readily understand your
embarrassment when I addressed myself to you yes-
terday."

" Indeed," cried Silas, " I am innocent of everything
except misfortune."

And in a hurried voice, ajid with the greatest ingen-
uousness, he recounted to the Prince the whole history
of his calamity.

"I see I have been mistaken," said his Highness,

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

when he had heard him to an end.

''You a

than a victim, and since I am not to punish you, yon
may be sure I shall do my utmost to help. And now,"
he continued, " to business. Open your box at once,
and let me see what it contains."

Silas changed color.

" I almost fear to look upon it," he exclaimed.

" Nay," replied the Prince, " have you not looked at
it already? This is a form of sentimentality to be
resisted. The sight of a sick man, whom we can still
help, should appeal more directly to the feelings than
that of a dead man who is equally beyond help or
harm, love or hatred. Nerve yourself, Mr, Scudda-
more," and then, seeing that Silas still hesitated, "I
do not desire to give another name to my request," he
added.

The young American awoke as if out of a dream, and
with a shiver of repugnance addressed himself to loose
the straps and open the lock of the Saratoga trunk.
The Prince stood by, watching with a composed coun-
tenance and his hands behind his back. The body
was quite stiff, and it cost Silas a great effort, both
moral and physical, to dislodge it from its position, and
discover the face.

Prince Florizel started back with an exclamation of
painful surprise.

"Alas!" he cried, "you little know, Mr. Scudda-
more, what a cruel gift you have brought me. This is
a young man of my own suite, the brother of my
trusted friend ; and it was upon matters of my own
service that he has thus perished at the hands of vio-
lent and treacherous men. Poor Geraldine," he went
on, as if to himself, "in what words am I to tell you
of your brother's fate ? How can I excuse myself in
your eyes, or in the eyes of God, for the presumptuous
schemes that led him to this bloody and unnatural
death ? Ah, Florizel ! Floiizel ! when will you learn
the discretion that suits mortal life, and be no longer
dazzled with the image of power at your disposal?

THE SUICIDE CLUB. 63

Power !" he cried ; " who is more poweriess ? I look
upon this young man whom I have sacrificed, Mr.
Scuddamore, and feel how small a thing it is to be a
Prince."

Silas was moved at the sight of his emotion. He
tried to murmur some consolatory words, and burst
into tears. The Prince, touched by his obvious
intention, came up to him and took him by the hand.

"Command yourself," said he. "We have both
much to learn, and we shall both be better men for
to-day's meeting."

Silas thanked him in silence with an affectionate
look.

" Write me the address of Doctor Noel on this piece
of paper," continued the Prince, leading him towards
the table ; " and let me recommend you, when you are
again in Paris, to avoid the society of that dangerous
man. He has acted in this matter on a generous
inspiration ; that I must believe ; had he been privy
to young Geraldine's death he would never have
despatched the body to the care of the actual crimi-
nal."

" The actual criminal !" repeated Silas in astonish-
ment.

" Even so," returned the Prince. " This letter,
which the disposition of Almighty Providence has so
strangely delivered into my hands, was addressed to
no less a person than the criminal himself, the infamous
President of the Suicide Club, Seek to pry no further
in these perilous affairs, but content yourself with
your own miraculous escape, and leave this house at
once, I have pressing affairs, and must arrange at
once about this poor clay, which was so lately a gallant
and handsome youth."

Silas took a grateful and submissive leave of Prince
Florizel, but he Hngered in Box Court until he saw him
depart in a splendid carriage on a visit to Colonel Hen-
derson of the police. Republican as he was, the young
American took olf his hat with almost a sentiment of

64 NE W ARABIAN NIGHTS,

devotion to the retreating carriage. And the same
night he started by rail on his return to Paris.

Here (observes my Arabian Author) is the end of
The History of the Physician and the Saratoga
Trunk. Omitting some reflections on the power of Prov-
idencey highly pertinent in the original^ but little suited to
our occidental taste y I shall only add that Mr. Scuddamore
has already begun to mount the ladder of political fame^
and by last advices was the Sheriff of his native town.

TBE AD VENTURE OF THE HANSOM CAB.

Lieutenant Brackenbury Rich had greatly distin-
guished himself in one of the lesser Indian hill wars.
He it was who took the chieftain prisoner with his own
hand; his gallantry was universally applauded; and
when he came home, prostrated by an i^gly sabre cut
and a protracted jungle fever, society was prepared to
welcome the Lieutenant as a celebrity of minor luster.
But his was a character remarkable for unaffected
modesty; adventure was dear to his heart, but he cared
httle for adulation; and he waited at foreign watering-
places and in Algiers until the fame of his exploits
had run through it's nine day's vitality and begun to
be forgotten. He arrived in London at last, in the
early season, with as little observation as he could desire;
and as be was an orphan and had none but distant
relatives who lived in the provinces, it was almost
as a foreigner that he installed himself in the capital
of the country for wbicb he bad shed bis blood.

On the day following his arrival he dined alOne at a
military club. He shook hands with a few old com-
rades, and received their congratulations; but as one
and all had some engagement for the evening, he found
himself left entirely to his own resources. He was in
dress, for be had entertained the notion of visiting a
theater. But the great city was new to him; he had
?one from a provincial school to a military college,
and thence direct to the Eastern Empire; and he
promised himself a variety of delights in this world
for exploration. Swinging his cane, he took his way
westward. It was a mild evening, already dark, and
now and then threatening rain. The succession of
[aces in the lamplight stirred the Lieutenant's imagin-
; and it seemed to him as if he could walk for ever
»5

66

NE W ARABIA!^ NIGHTS

in that stimulating city atmosphere and snjrrounded )5_
the mystery of four million private lives. He glanced
at the houses, and marvelled what was passina behind
those warmly-lighted windows; he looked mto face
after face, and saw them each intent u[.on some
unknown interest, criminal or kindly.

" They talk of war," he thought, " but this is the
great battlefield of mankind."

And then he began to wonder that he should walk
so long in this complicated scene, and not chance upon
so much as the shadow of an adventure for liimself,

"All in good time," he reflected. "I am still a
stranger, and perhaps wear a strange air. But I must
be drawn into the eddy before long."

The night was already well advanced, when a plump
of cold rain fell suddenly out of the darkness.
Brackenbury paused under some trees, and as he did
so he caught sight of a hansom cabman making him
a sign that he was disengaged. The circumstance fell
in so happily to the occasion that he at onee raised his
cane in answer, and had soon ensconced himself in the
London gondola.

" Where to, sir p " asked the driver.

" Where you please," said Brackenbury.

And immediately, at a pace of surprising swiftness,
the hansom drove off through the rain into a maze of
vUlas. One villa was so like another, each with its
front garden, and there was so little to distinguish the
deserted lamp-Ht streets and crescents through which
the flying hansom took its way, that Brackenbury soon
lost all idea of direction. He would have been con-
tented to believe that the cabman was amusing himself
by driving him round and round and in and out about
a small quarter, but (here was something businesshke
in the speed which convinced him of the contrary.
The man had an object in view, he was hastening tow-
ards a definite end; and Brackenbury was at once
astonished at the fellow's skill in picking a way through
such a labyrinth, and a little concerned to imagine

THE SUICIDE CLUB. 67

what was the occasion of his hurry. He had heard
tales ot strangers faUing ill in London. Did the driver
belong to some bloody and treacherous association ? and
was he himself being whirled to a murderous death ?

The thought had scarcely presented itself, wlien the
cab swung sharply round a comer and pulled up before
the garden gate of a villa in a long and wide road.
The house was brilliantly lighted up. Another hansom
had just driven away, and Brackenbury could see a
gentleman being admitted at the front door and
received by several liveried servants. He was sur-
prised that the cabman should have stopped so imme-
diately in front of a house where a reception was being
held; but he did not doubt it was the result of acci-
dent, and sat placidly smoking where he was, until he
heard the trap thrown open over his head.

" Here we are, sir," said the driver.

"Herei" repeated Brackenbury. "Where?"

" You told me to take you where I pleased, sir,"
returned the man with a chuckle, " and here we are."

It struck Brackenbury that the voice was wonder-
fully smooth and courteous for a man in so inferior a
position; he remembered the speed at which he had
been driven; and now it occurred to him that the han-
som was more luxuriously appointed than the common
run of pub He conveyances.

"I must ask you to explain," said he. "Do you
mean to turn me out into the rain? My good man, I
suspect the choice is mine."

The choice is certainly yours," replied the driver;
"but when I tell you all, I believe I know how a gen-
tleman of your figure will decide. There is a gentle-
men's party in this house. I do not know whether the
master be a stranger to London and without acquaint-
ances of his own; or whether he is a man of odd
notions. But certainly I was hired to kidnap single
gentlemen in evening dress, as many as 1 pleased, but
military officers by preference. You have simply to
CO in and say that Mr. Morris invited you."

^

68 NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

" Are you Mr. Morris ? " inquired the Lieutenant < •

" Oh, no," replied the cabman. " Mr. Morris is tbe
person of the house."

" It is not a common way of collecting guests," said
Brackenbury; "but an eccentric man might very weU
indulge the whim without any intention to offend.
And suppose that I refuse Mr. Morris's invitation," he
went on, " what then ? "

" My orders are to drive you back where I took you
from," replied the man, " and set out to look for others
up to midnight. Those who have no fancy for such
an adventure, Mr. Morris said, were not the guests for
him."

These words decided the Lieutenant on the spot.

"After all," he reflected, as he descended from ihe
hansom, ' I have not had long to wait for my adven-
ture."

He had hardly found footing on the side-walk, and
was stiU feeiing in his pocket for the fare, when the
cab swung about and drove off by the way it came at
the former break-neck velocity, Brackenbury shouted
after the man, who paid no heed, and continued to
drive away; but the sound of his voice was overheard
in tbe house, the door was again thrown open, emitting
a flood of light upon the garden, and a servant ran
down to meet him holding an umbrella,

"The cabman has been paid," observed ihe servant
in a very civil tone; and he proceeded to escort
Brackenbury along the path and up the steps. In the
hall several other attendants relieved him of his hat,
cane, and paletot, gave him a ticket with a number in
return, and politely hurried him up a stair adorned
with tropical flowers, to the door of an apartment on
the first story. Here a grave butler inquired his
name, and announcing ' Lieutenant Brackenbury
Rich," ushered him into the drawing-roora of the

A young man, slender and singularly handsome
came forward and greeted him with an air at ouce

THE smews CLUB.

*9

courtly and affectionate. Hundreds of candles, of the
finest wax, lit up a room that was perfumed, like the
staircase, with a profusion of rare and beautiful flow-
ering shrubs. A side-table was loaded with tempting
viands. Several servants went to and fro with fruits
and goblets of champagne. The company was pei"-
haps sixteen in number, all men, few beyond the prime
of life, and with hardly an exception, of a dashingand
capable exterior. They were divided into two groups,
one about a roulette board, and the other surrounding
a table at which one of their number held a bank of
baccarat,

"I see," thought Brackenbury, "I am in a private
gambling saloon, and the cabman was a tout."

His eye had embraced the details, and his mind
formed the conclusion, while his host was still holding
him by the hand; and to him his looks returned from
this rapid survey. At a second view Mr. Morris sur-
prised him still more than on the first. The easy
elegance of his manners, the distinction, amiability,
and courage that appeared upon his features, fitted
very il! with the Lieutenant's preconceptions on the
subject of the proprietor of a hell; and the tone of his
conversation seemed to mark him out for a man of
position and merit. Brackenbury found he had an
instinctive liking for his entertainer; and though he
chid himself for the weakness he was unable to resist a
sort of friendly attraction for Mr, Morris's person and
character.

"I have heard of you. Lieutenant Rich," said Mr,
Morris, lowering his tone; "and beHeve me I am grati-
fied to make your acquaintance. Your looks accord
with the reputation that has preceded you from India,
And if you wi!l forget for a while the irregularity of
your presentation in my house, I shall feel it not only
an honor, but genuine pleasure besides. A man who
makes a mouthful of barbarian cavaliers," he added
with a laugh, " should not be appalled by a breach of
etiquette, however serious."

70

NE ir ASABIAI7 NIGHTS.

And he led him towards the sideboard and pres
him to partake of some refreshments.

"Upon my word," the Lieutenant reflected, "this is
one of the pleasantest fellows and, I do not doubt, one
of the most agreeable societies in London."

He partook of some champagne, which he found
excellent; and observing that many of the company
were already smoking, he lit one of his own Manillas,
and strolled up to the roulette board, where he some-
times made a stake and sometimes looked on smilingly
on the fortune of others. It was while he was thus
idling that he became aware of a sharp scrutiny to
which the whole of the guests were subjected. Mr.
Morris went here and there, ostensibly busied on hos-
pitable concerns; but he had ever a shrewd glance at
disposal; not a man of the party escaped his sudden,
searching looks; he took stock of the bearing of heavy
losers, he valued the amount of the stakes, he paused
behind couples who were deep in conversation; and, in
a word, there was hardly a characteristic of anyone
present t Jt he seemed to catch and make a note of it.
Brackenbury began to wonder if this were indeed a
gambhng hell: it had so much the air of a private
inquisition. He followed Mr. Morris in all his move-
ments; and although the man had a ready smile, he
seemed to perceive, as it were under a mask, a haggard,
careworn, and preoccupied spirit. The fellows around
him laughed and made their game; but Brackenbury
had lost interest in the guests.

" This Morris," thought he, " is no idler in the room.
Some deep purpose inspires him; let it be mine to
fathom it."

Now and then Mr. Morris would call one of his
visitors aside; and after a brief colloquy in an ante-
room, he would return alone, and the visitors in ques-
tion reappeared no more. After a certain number of
repetitions, this performance excited Brackenbury'a
curiosity to a high degree. He determined to be at
the bottom of this minor mystery at once; and strolhng

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

7>

into the Jinte-room, found a deep window recess con-
cealed by curtains of the fashionable green. Here he
hurriedly ensconced himself; nor had he to wait long
before the sound of steps and voices drew near him
from the principal apartment. Peering through the
division, he saw Mr. Mortis escorting a fat and ruddy
personage, with somewhat the look of a commercial
traveler, whom Brackenbury had already remarked for
his coarse laugh and under-bred behavior at the table.
The pair halted immediately beforethe window, so that
Brackenbury lost not a word of the following dis-

" I beg you a thousand pardons ! " began Mr. Morns,
with the most conciliatory manner; "and, if I appear
rude, I am sure you will readily forgive me. In a
place so great as London accidents must continually
happen; and the best that we can hope is to remedy
them with as small delay as possible. I will not deny
that I fear you have made a mistake and honored my
poor house by inadvertence; for, to speak openly, I
cannot at all remember your appearance. Let me put
the question without unnecessary circumlocution —
between gentlemen of honor a word will suffice —
Under whose roof do you suppose yourself to be ? "

"That of Mr. Morris," replied the other, with a
prodigious display of confusion, which had been visibly
growing upon him throughout the last few words.

"Mr. John or Mr, James Morris?" inquired the
host.

" I really cannot tell you," returned the unfortunate
guest. "I am not personally acquainted with the
gentlemen, any more than I am with yourself."

" I see," said Mr. Morris. "There is another per-
■on of the same name farther down the street; and I
have no doubt the policeman will be able to supply
you with his number. Believe me, I felicitate myself
an the misunderstanding which has procured me the
pleasure of your company for so long; and let me
express & hope that we may meet again upon a more

73 NBW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

regular footing. Meantime, I would not for ffio
world detain you longer from your friends. John,"
he added, raising his voice, "will yon see that the
gentleman finds his great-coat?"

And with the most agreeable air Mr, Morris escorted
his visitor as far as the ante-room door, where he left
him under conduct of the butler. As he passed the
window, on his return to the drawing-room, Bracken-
bury could hear him utter a profound sigh, as though
his mind was loaded with a great anxiety, and his nerves
already fatigued with the task on which he was
engaged.

For perhaps an hour the hansoms kept arriving with
such frequency, that Mr. Morris had to receive a new
guest for every old one that he sent away, and the com-
pany preserved its number undiminished. But towards
the end of that time the arrivals grew few and far be-
tween, and at length ceased entirely, while the process of
elimination was continued with unimpaired activity.
The drawing-room began to look empty ; the baccarat
was discontinued for lack of a banker ; more than one
person said good-night of his own accord, and was
Buffered to depart without expostulation : and in the
meanwhile Mr. Morris redoubled in agreeable attentions
to those who stayed behind. He went from group to
group and from person to person with looks of the
readiest sympathy and the most pertinent and pleasing
talk ; he was not so much like a host as like a hostess,
and there was a feminine coquetry and condescension
in his manner which cliarmed the hearts of all.

As the guests grew thinner, Lieutenant Rich strolled
for a moment out of the drawing-room into the hall in
quest of fresher air. But he had no sooner passed the
threshold of the ante-chamber than he was brought to
a dead halt by a discovery of the most surprising
nature. The flowering shrubs had disappeared from
the staircase ; three large furniture wagons stood
before the garden gate ; the servants were busy dismant-
ling the house upon all sides ; and some of them had

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

73

already donned their great-coats and were preparing to
depart. It was like the end of a country ball, where
everything has been supplied by contract. Brackenbury
had indeed some matter for reflection. First, the guests,
who were no real guests after all, had been dismissed ;
and now the servants, who could hardly be genuine
servants, were actively dispersing.

" Was the whole establishment a sham ? " lie asked
himself. " The mushroom of a single night which
should disappear before morning f "

Watching a favorable opportunity, Brackenbui7
dashed upstairs to the higher regions of the house. It
was as he had expected. He ran from room to room,
and saw not a stick of furniture nor so much as a pic-
ture on the walls. Although the house had been painted
and papered, it was not only uninhabited at present, but
plainly had never been inhabited at alt The young
officer remembered with astonishment its specious,
settled, and hospitable air on his arrival. It was only
at a prodigious cost that the imposture could have been
carried out upon so great a scale.

Who, then, was Mr. Morris ? What was his intention
in thus playing the householder for a single night in
the remote west of London ? And why did he collect
his visitors at hazard from the streets ?

Brackenbury remembered that he had already
delayed too long, and hastened to join the company.
Many had left during his absence; and counting the
Lieutenant and his host, there were not more than five
persons in the drawing-room — recently so thronged.
Mr. Morris greeted liim, as he re-entered the apartment,
with a smile, and immediately rose to his feet.

" It is now time, gentlemen," said he, " to explain
my purpose in decoying you from your amusements. I
trust you did not find the evening hang very dully on
your hands ; but my object, I will confess it, was not
to entertain your leisure, but to help myself in an unfor-
tunate necessity. Vou are all gentlemen," he continued,
" your appearance does you that much justice, and I

74

ask for n

NEIV ARABIAN NIGHTS.

bettei

Hei

:, I speak it without

security,
concealment, I ask you to render me a dangerc
delicate service ; dangerous because you may run the
hazard of your lives, and delicate because I must ask
an absolute discretion upon all that you shall see or
hear. From an utter stranger the request is almosi
comically extravagant ; I am well aware of this ; and
I would add at once, if there be anyone present who
has heard enough, if there be one among the party who
recoils from a dangerous confidence and a piece of
Quixotic devotion to he knows not whom— here is ray
hand ready, and I shall wish him good-night and God-
speed, with all the sincerity in the world."

A very tall, black man, with a heavy stoop, immedi-
ately responded to this appeal.

"I commend your frankness, sir," said he; "and,
for my part, I go. I make no reflections ; but I can-
not deny that you fill me with suspicious thoughts. I
go myself, as I say ; and perhaps you will think I have
no right to add words to my example."

"On the contrary," replied Mr. Morris, "I am
obliged to you for all you say. It would be
to exaggerate the gravity of my proposal,"

"Well, gentlemen, what do you say?" said the tall
man, addressing the others. " We have had our even-
ing's frolic; shall we go homeward peaceably in a body ?
You will think well of my suggestion in the morning,
when you see the sun again in innocence and safety."

The speaker pronounced the last words with an
intonation which added to their force; and his face wore
a singular expression, full of gravity and significance.
Another of the company rose hastily, and, with some
appearance of alarm, prepared to take his leave. There
were only two who held their ground, Brackenbury
and an old red-nosed cavalry Major; but these two
preserved a nonchalant demeanor, and, beyond a look
of intelligence which tliey rapidly exchanged, appeared
entirely foreign to the discussion that had just been
tenmnated.

m possible

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

75

Mr. Morris conducted the deserters as far as the
door, which he closed upon their heels ; then he turned
round disclosing a countenance of mingled relief and
animation, and addressed the two officers as follows ;

" I have chosen my men like Joshua in the Bible,"
said Mr. Morris, " and I now believe I have the pick
of London. Your appearance pleased my hansom
cabmen ; then it delighted me ; I have watched your
behavior in a strange company, and under the most
unusual circumstances ; I have studied how you played
and how you bore your losses ; lastly, I have put you
to the test of a staggering announcement, and you
received it like an invitation to dinner. It is not for
nothing," he cried, " that I have been for years the
companion and the pupil of the bravest and wisest
potentate in Europe."

"At the affair of Bunderchang," observed the Major.
"I asked for twelve volunteers, and every trooper in
the ranks replied to my appeal. But a gaming party
is not the same thing as a regiment under fire. You
may be pleased, I suppose, to have found two, and
two who will not fail you at a push. As for the pair
who ran away, I count them among the most pitiful
hounds I ever met with. Lieutenant Rich," he added,
addressing Braclcenbury, " I have heard much of you
of late ; and I cannot doubt but you have also heard
of me. I am Major O'Rooke."

And the veteran tendered his hand, which was red
and tremulous, to the young Lieutenant.

" Who has not ?" answered Brackenbury.

" When this little matter is settled," said Mr. Morris,
" you will think I have sufficiently rewarded you ; for
1 could offer neither a more valuable service than to
make him acquainted with the other."

"And now," said Major O'Rooke, " is it a duel ?"

"A duel after a fashion," rephed Mr. Morris, "a
dnel with unknown and dangerous enemies, and, as I
gravely fear, a duel to the death. I must ask you," he
continued, "to call me Morris no longer; call me, if

j6 NEIV ARABIAN- NIGHTS.

you please, Hammersmith; my real name, as well i
that of another person to whom I hope to present you
before long, you will gratify me by not asking and not
seeking to discover for yourselves. Three days ago
the person of whom I speak disappeared suddenly from
home; and, until this morning, I received no hint of
his situation. You will fancy my alarm wlien I tell
you that he is engaged upon a work of private justice.
Bound by an unhappy oath, too lightly sworn, he finds
it necessary, without the help of law, to rid the earth
of an insidious and bloody villain. Already two of
our friends, and one of them my own bom brother,
have perished in the enterprise. He himself, or I am
much deceived, is taken in the same fatal toils. But
at least he still lives and still hopes, as this billet
sufficiently proves."

And the speaker, no other than Colonel Geraldine,
proffered a letter, thus conceived: —

" Major Hammersmith, — On Wednesday, at 3 a. M.,
you will be admitted by the small door to the gardens
of Rochester House, Regent's Park, by a man who is
entirely in my interest. I must request you not to fail
me by a second. Pray bring my case of swords, and,
if you can find them, one or two gentlemen of conduct
and discretion to whom my person is unknown. My
name must not be used in this affair.

T. God ALL.

" From his wisdom alone, if he had no other title,"
pursued Colonel Geraldine, when the others had each
satisfied his curiosity, "my friend is a man whose
directions should implicitly be followed. I need not
tell you, therefore, that I have not so much as visited
the neighborhood of Rochester House ; and that I am

r still as wholly in the dark as either of yourselves as to

the nature of my friend's dilemma. I betook myself,
as soon as I had received this order, to a furnishing
I contractor, and, in a few hours, the house in which we

now are had assumed its late air of festival. My
scheme was at least original ; and I am far from

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

77

regrettingan action which has procured me the services
of Major O'Rooke and Lieutenant Brackenbury Rich.
But the servants in the street will have a strange
awakening. The house which this evening was full
of lights and visitors they will find uninhabited and for
sale to-morrow morning. Thus even the most serious
concerns," added the Colonel, "have a merry side."
"And let us add a merry ending," said Bracken-

The Colonel consulted his watch.

" It is now hard on two," he said. " We have an hour
before us, and a swift cab is at the door. Tell me if
I may count upon your help."

" During a long life," replied Major O'Rooke, " I
never took back my hand from anything, nor so much
as hedged a bet,"

Biackenbury signified his readiness in the most
becoming terms; and after they had drunk a glass or
two of wine, the Colonel gave each of them a loaded
revolver, and the three mounted into the cab and drove
off for the address in question.

Rochester House was a magnificent residence on the
banks of the canal. The large extent of the garden
isolated it in an unusual degree from the annoyances of
neighborhood. It seemed the/or^ aux ctrfs of some
great nobleman or millionaire. As far as could be
seen from the street, there was not a glimmer of light
in any of the numerous windows of the mansion ; and
the place had a look of neglect, as though the master
had been long from home.

The cab was discharged, and the three gentlemen
were not long in discovering the small door, which was
a sort of postern in a lane between two garden walls.
It still wanted ten or fifteen minutes of the appointed
time; the rain fell heavily, and the adventurers sheltered
themselves below some pendent ivy, and spoke in low
tones of the approaching trial.

Suddenly Geraldine raised his finger to command
silence, and all three bent their hearing to the utmost

k

78 NEW A Jf ASIAN' NIGHTS.

Through the continuous noise of the rain, the steps and
voices of two men became audible from the other side
of the wall ; and, as they drew nearer, Brackenbury,
whose sense of hearing was remarkably acute, couid
even distinguish some fragments of their talk.

"Is the grave dug?" asked one.

" It is," replied the other ; " behind the laurel hedge.
When the job is done, we can cover it with a pile of
stakes,"

The first speaker laughed, and the sound of his
merriment was shocking to the listeners on the other

"In an hour from now," he said.

And by the sound of the steps it was obvious that
the pair had separated, and were proceeding in contrary
directions.

Almost immediately after the postern door was
cautiously opened, a white face was protruded into the
lane, and a hand was seen beckoning to the watchers.
In dead silence the three passed the door, which was
immediately locked behind them, and followed their
guide through several garden alleys to the kitchen
entrance of the house. A single candle burned in the
great paved kitchen, which was destitute of the custom-
ary furniture ; and as the party proceeded to ascend
from thence by a flight of winding stairs, a prodigious
noise of rats testified still more plainly to the dilapida-
tion of the house.

Their conductor preceded them, carrying the candle.
He was a lean man, much bent, but still agile ; and he
turned from time to time and admonished silence and
caution bv his gestures. Colonel Geraldine followed
on his heels, the case of swords under one arm, and a
pistol ready in the other. Brackenbury's heart beat
thickly. He perceived that they were still in time; but
he judged from the alacrity of the old man that the
hour of action mtist be near at hand; the circumstances
of this adventure were so obscure and menacing, the
place seemed so well chosen far the darkest acts, that

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

79

night have been par-
closed ihe procession

Lnd to Colonel
n your exact-

an older man than Brackenbury r
doned a measure of eraot'
up the winding stair.

At the top the guide threw open a door and ushered
the three officers before him into a small apartment,
lighted by a smoky lamp and the glow of a modest fire.
At the chimney comer sat a man in the early prime of
life, and of a stout but courtly and commanding
appearance. His attitude and expression were those of
the most unmoved composure ; he was smoking a
cheroot with much enjoyment and deliberation, and on
a table by his elbow stood a long glass of some effer-
vescing beverage which diffused an agreeable odor
through the room.

"Welcome," said he, extending his
Geraidine. " I knew I might count
itude."

" On my devotion," replied the Colonel, with a bow.

" Present me to your friends," continued the first;
and, when that ceremony had been performed, " I wish,
gentlemen," he added, with the most exquisite affability,
" that I could offer you a more cheerful programme ;
it is ungracious to inaugurate an acquaintance upon
serious affairs ; but the compulsion of events is
stronger than the obligations of good-fellowship. I
hope and believe you will be able to forgive me this
unpleasant evening ; and for men of ymir stamp it will
be enough to know that you are conferring a consider-
able favor,"

"Your Highness," said the Major, "must pardon my
bluntness. I am unable to hide what I know. For
some time back I have suspected Major Hammersmith,
but Mr. Godall is unmistakable. To seek two men in
London unacquainted with Prince Florizel of Bohemia
was to ask too much at Fortune's hands."

" Prince Florizel !" cried Brackenbury in amaze-
ment.

And he gazed with the deepest interest on the fea*
tures of the celebrated personage before him.

J^TEiV ARABIAN NIGHTS.

" I shall not lament ihe loss of my incognito,"
remarked the Prince, " for it enables me to thank you
with the more authority. You would have done as
much for Mr. Godall, I feel sure, as for the Prince of
Bohemia ; but the latter can perhaps do more for you.
The gain is mine," he added, with a courteous ges-
ture.

And the next moment he was conversing with the
two officers about the Indian army and the native
troops, a subject on which, as on all others, he had a
remarkable fund of information and the soundest

There was something so striking in this man's atti-
tude at a moment of deadly peril that Brackenbury
■was overcome with respectful admiration ; nor was he
less sensible to the charm of his conversation or the
surprising amenity of his address. Every gesture,
every intonation, was not only noble in itself, but
seemed to ennoble the fortunate mortal for whom it
was intended ; and Brackenbury confessed to himself
with enthusiasm that this was a sovereign for whom a
brave man might thankfully lay down his life.

Many minutes had thus passed, when the person who
had introduced them into the house, and who had sat
ever since in a corner, and with his watch in his hand,
arose and whispered a word into the Prince's ear.

"It is well. Dr. Noel," replied Florizel, aloud ; and
then addressing the others, "You will excuse me,
gentlemen," he added, ".if I have to leave you in the
dark. The moment now approaches."

Dr. Noel extinguished the lamp. A faint, gray light,
premonitory of the dawn, illuminated the window, but
was not sufficient to illuminate the room ; and when the
Prince rose to his feet, it was impossible to distinguish
his features or to make a guess at the nature of the
emotion which obviously affected him as he spoke. He
moved towards the door, and placed himself at one side
of it in an attitude of the wariest attention.

" You will have the kindness," he said, " to maintain

THE SUICIDE CLUB. g,

the strictest silence, and to conceal yourselves in the
densest of the shadow."

The three officers and the physician hastened to
obey, and for nearly ten minutes the only sound in
Rochester House was occasioned by the excursions of
the rats behind the woodwork. At the end of that
period, a loud creak of a hinge broke in with surprising
distinctness on the silence ; and shortly after, the
watchers could distinguish a slow and cautious tread
approaching up the kitchen stair. At every second
step the intruder seemed to pause and lend an ear, and
during these intervals, which seemed of an incalculable
duration, a profound disquiet possessed tJie spirit of
the listeners. Dr. Noel, accustomed as he was to
dangerous emotions, suffered an almost pitiful physical
prostration ; his breath whistled in his lungs, his teeth
grated one upon another, and his joints cracked aloud
as he nervously shifted his position.

At last a hand was laid upon the door, and the bolt
shot back with a slight report. There followed another
pause, during which Brackenbury could see the Prince
draw himself together noiselessly as if for some unusual
exertion. Then the door opened, letting in a little
more of the light of the morning ; and the figure of a
man appeared upon the threshold and stood motionless.
He was tall, and carried a knife in his hand. Even in
the twilight they could see his upper teeth bare and
glistening, for his mouth was open like that of a hound
about to leap. The man had evidently been over the
head in water but a minute or two before ; and even
while he stood there the drops kept falling from his
wet clothes and pattered on the floor.

The next moment he crossed the threshold. There
was a leap, a stifled cry, an instantaneous struggle ; and
before Colonel Geraldine could spring to his aid, the
Prince held the man, disarmed and helpless, by the
shoulders.

" Dr. Noel," he said, "you will be so good as to
relight the lamp "

82 NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

And relinquishing the charge of his prisoner to Ger*
aldine and Brackenbury, he crossed the room and set
his back against the chimney-piece. As soon as the
lamp had kindled, the party beheld an unaccustomed
sternness on the Prince's features. It was no longer
Florizel, the careless gentleman ; it was the Prince of
Bohemia, justly incensed and full of deadly purpose,
who now raised his head and addressed the captive
President of the Suicide Club.

" President," he said, " you have laid your last
snare, and your own feet are taken in it. The day is
beginning ; it is your last morning. You have just
swum the Regent's Canal ; it is your last bathe in this
world. Your old accomplice. Dr. Noel, so far from
betraying me, has delivered you into my hands for
judgment. And the grave you had dug for me thU
afternoon shall serve, in God's almighty providence, to
hide your own just doom from the curiosity of man-
kind. Kneel and pray, sir, if you have a mind that
way ; for your time is short, and God is weary of your
iniquities."

The President made no answer either by word or
sign ; but continued to hang his head and gaze sul-
lenly on the floor, as though he were conscious of the
Prince's prolonged and unsparing regard.

" Gentlemen," continued Florizel, resuming the ordi-
nary tone of his conversation, " this is a fellow who
has long eluded me, but whom, thanks to Dr. Noel, I
now have tightly by the heels. To tell the story of his
misdeeds would occupy more time than we can now
afford ; but if the canal had contained nothing but the
blood of his victims, I believe the wretch would have
been no drier than you see him. Even in an affair of
this sort I desire to preserve the forms of honor. But
I make you the judges, gentlemen — this is more an
execution than a duel ; and to give the rogue his
choice of weapons would be to push too far a point of
etiquette. I cannot afford to lose my life in such a
business," he continued, unlocking the case of swords;

THE SUICIDE CLUB, 83

"and as a pistol-bullet travels so often on the wings
of chance, and skill and courage mny fall by the most
trembling marksman, I have decided, and 1 feel sure
you will approve my determination, to put this ques-
tion to the touch of swords."

When Brackenbury and Major O'Rooke, to whom
these remarks were particularly addressed, had each
intimated his approval, "Quick, sir," added Prince
Florizel to the President, " choose a blade and do not
keep me waiting; I have an impatience to be done
with you for ever."

For the first lime since he was captured and dis-
armed the President raised his head, and it was plain
that he began instantly to pluck up courage."

"Is it to be stand up?" he asked eagerly, "and
lietween you and me ? "

" I mean so far to honor you," reolicd the Prince.

"Oh, come !" cried the President. "With a fair
field, who knows how things may happen ? I must
add that I consider it handsome behavior on your
Highness's part ; and if the worst comes to the worst I
shall die by one of the most gallant gentlemen in
Europe ? "

And the President, liberated by those who had
detained him, stepped up to the table and began, with
minute attention, to select a sword. He was highly
elated, and seemed to feel no doubt that he should
issue victorious from the contest. The spectators grew
alarmed in the face of so entire a confidence, and
adjured Prince Florizel to reconsider his intention.

" It is but a farce," he answered ; " and I think I
can promise you, gentlemen, that it wU not be lontj
a-playing."

" Your Highness will be careful not to overreach,"
said Colonel Geraldine.

"Geraldine," returned the Prince, "did you ever
know me fail in a debt of honor? I owe you this
man's death, and you shall have it."

The President at last satisfied himself with one of

NEW ARABrAM NIGHTS.

the rapiers, and signified his readiness by a {
that was not devoid of a rude nobility. The nearness
of peril, and the sense of courage, even to this obnox-
ious villain, lent an air of manhood and a certain grace.

The Prince helped himself at random to a sword.

" Colonel Geraldine and Doctor Noel," he said," will
have the goodness to await me in this room. I wish
no personal friend of mine to be involved in this trans-
action. Major O'Rooke, you are a man of some years
and a settled reputation — let me recommend the Presi-
dent to your good graces. Lieutenant Rich will be so
good as to lend me his attentions: a young man can-
not have too much experience in such affairs."

"Your Highness," replied Brackenbury, "it is an
honor I shall prize extremely."

"It is well," returned Prince Florizel; "I shall
hope to stand your friend in more important circum-
stances."

And so saying he led the way out of the apartment
and down the kitchen stairs.

The two men who were thus left alone threw open
the window and leaned out, straining every sense to
catch an indication of the tragical events that were
about to follow. The rain was now over; day had almost
come, and the birds were piping in the shrubbery and
on the forest trees of the garden. The Prince and his
companions were visible for a moment as they followed
an alley between two flowering thickets; but at the first
corner a clump of foliage intervened, and they were again
concealed from view. This was all that the Colonel
and the physician had an opportunity to see, and the
garden was so vast, and the place of combat evidently
so remote from the house, that not even the noise of
sword-play reached their ears.

" He has taken him towards the grave," said Dr.
Noel, with a shudder.

" God," cried the Colonel, " God defend the right !"

And they awaited the event in silence, the Doctor
thalcing with fear, the Colonel in an agony of sweat

THE SUICIDE CLUB.

H

Many minutes must have elapsed, the day was sensibly
broader, and the birds were singing more heartily in
the garden before a sound of returning footsteps
recalled their glances towards the door. It was the
Prince and the two Indian officers who entered. God
had defended the right.

" I am ashamed of my emotion,'' said Prince Florizel ;
"I feel it a weakness unworthy of my station, but the
continued existence of that hound of hell had begun
to play upon me like a disease, and his death has
more refreshed me than a night of slumber. Look,
Geraldine," he continued, throwing his sword upon the
floor, "there is the blood of the man who killed your
brother. It should be a welcome sight. And yet,"
he added, " see how strangely we men are made ! my
revenge is not yet five minutes old, and already I am
beginning to ask myself if even revenge be attainable
on this precarious stage of life. The ill he did, who
can undo it ? The career in which he amassed a huge
fortune (for the house itself in which he staid belonged
to him) — that career is now a part of the destiny of
mankind forever; and I might weary myself making
thrusts in carte until the crack of judgment, and Ger-
aldine's brother would be none the less dead, and a
thousand other innocent persons would be none the
less dishonored and debauched ! The existence of a
man is so small a thing to take, so mighty a thing to
employ ! Alas ! " he cried, " is there anything in life
so disenchanting as attainment?"

"God's justice has been done," replied the Doctor.
" So much I behold. The lesson, your Highness, has
been a cruel one for me; and I await my own turn
with deadly apprehension."

"What was I saying?" cried the Prince. " I have
punished, and here is the man beside us who can help
me to undo. Ah, Dr. Noel ! you and I have before us
many a day of hard and honorable toil; and perhaps,
before we have done, you may have more ttun
redeemed your early errors."

86

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

"And in the meantime," said the Doctor, "let mi
go and bury my oldest friend."

{Atid this, observes the erudite Arabian, is the for-
tunate conclusion of the tale. The Prince, it is superfiu-
BUS to mention, forgot none of those who served himin this
great exploit; and to this day his authority and influence
help them forward in their public career, while his con-
descending friendship adds a charm to their private life.
To collect, continues the author, alt the strange events in
which this Prince has played the part of Providence
were to fill the habitable globe with books. But the
stories which relate to the fortunes of The Rajah's
Diamond are of too entertaining a description, says he,
to be omitted. Pollowing prudently in the footsteps oj
this Oriental, we shall now begin the series to wimk kt
refers with the Story of the Bakdbox.)

THE RAJAH'S DIAMONa

THE RAJAH'S DIAMONH.

U^

' OF THE BANDBOX.

fP to the age of sixteen, at a private school and
_ ;rwards at one of those great institutions for

which England is justly famous, Mr. Harry Hartley
had received the ordinary education of a gentleman.
At that period, he manifested a remarkable distaste for
study ; and his only surviving parent being both v^eak
and ignorant, he was permitted thenceforward to spend
his time in the attainment of petty and purely elegant
accomplishments. Two years later, he was left an
orphan and almost a beggar. For all active and indus-
trious pursuits, Harry was unfitted alike by nature and
training. He could sing romantic ditties, and accorn-
pany himself with discretion on the piano ; he was a
graceful although a timid cavalier ; he had a pro-
nounced taste for chess ; and nature had sent him into
the world with one of the most engaging exteriors that
can well be fancied. Blond and pink, with dove's eyea
and a gentle smile, he had an air of agreeable tender-
ness and melancholy, and the most submissive and
caressing manners. But when all is said, he was not
the man to lead armaments of war, or direct the coun-

cils of a State.

A fortunate ch;
Harry, at the tim
. private secretary
leur, C.B. Sir Thomas
boisterous, and domineering.

Lce and some influence obtained for

of his bereavement, the position of

Major-General Sir Thomas Vande-

of sixty, loud -spoken,

For some reason, some

service the nature of which had been often whispered
and repeatedly denied, the Rajah of Kashgar had pre-
sented this officer with the sixth known diamond of the
vorld. The gift transformed General Vandeleur from

^ NEW ARABIAIV NIGHTS.

a poor into a wealthy man, from an obscure
unpopular soldier into one of the lions of London
society; the possessor of the Rajah's Diamond was
welcome in the most exclusive circles ; and he had
found a lady, young, beautiful, and well-born, who was
willing to call the diamond hers even at the price of
marriage with Sir Thomas Vandeleur. It was com-
monly said at the time that, as like draws to like, one
jewel had attracted another ; certainly Lady Vandeleur
was not only a gem of the finest water in her own
person, but she showed herself to the world in a very
costly setting ; and she was considered by many
respectable authorities, as one among the three or four
best dressed women in England.

Harry's duty as secretary was not particularly oner-
ous ; but he had a dislike for all prolonged work ; it
gave him pain to ink his fingers ; and the charms of
Lad}^ Vandeleur and her toilettes drew him often from
the library to the boudoir. He had the prettiest ways
among women, could talk fashions with enjoyment,
and was never more happy than when criticising a
shade of ribbon, or running on an errand to the mil-
liner's. In short. Sir Thomas's correspondence fell into
pitiful arrears, and my Lady had anotlier lady's maid.

At last the General, who was one of the least patient
of military commanders, arose from his place in a vio-
lent excess of passion, and indicated to his secretary
that he had no further use for his services, with one
of those explanatory gestures which are most rarely
employed between gentlemen. The door being unfor-
tunately open, Mr. Hartley fell down-stairs head fore-
most

He arose somewhat hurt and very deeply aggrieved.
The life in the General's house precisely suited him ;
he moved, on a more or less doubtful footing, in very
genteel company, he did little, he ale of the best, and
he had a lukewarm satisfaction in the presence of Lady
Vandeleur, which, in his own heart, he dubbed by a
more emphatic name.

THE RAfAH'S DIAMOND,

Immediately after he had been outraged by the mil-
itary foot, he hurried to the boudoir and recounted his

" You know very well, my dear Harry," replied Lady
Vandeleur, for she called him by name like a child or
a domestic servant, " that you never by any chance do
what the General tells you. No more do I, you may
sny. But that is diiTerent. A woman can earn her
pardon for a good year of disobedience by a single
adroit submission ; and, besides, no one is married to
his private secretary. I shall be sorry to lose you, but
since you cannot stay longer in a house where you have
been insulted, I shall wish you good-bye, and I promise
you to make the General smart for his behavior,"

Harry's countenance fell ; tears came into his
eyes, and he gazed on Lady Vandeleur with a tender
reproach,

" My Lady," said he, " what is an insult ? I should
think little indeed of anyone who could not forgive
them by the score. But to leave one's friends ; to
tear up the bonds of affection "

He was unable to continue, for his emotion choked
him, and he began to weep.

Lady Vandeleur looked at him with a curious
expression.

This little fool," she thought, " imagines himself
to be in love with me. Why should he not become
my servant instead of the General's? He is good-
natured, obliging, and understands dress; and besides
it will keep him out of mischief. He is positively too
pretty to be unattached."

That night she talked over the General, who was
already somewhat ashamed of his vivacity; and Harry
was transferred to the feminine department, where his
life was little short of heavenly. He was always
dressed with uncommon nicety, wore deHcate flowers
in his button-hole, and could entertain a visitor with
tact and pleasantry. He took a pride in servility to a
beautiful woman; received Lady Vandeleur's com-

L

I

M

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

mands as so many marks of favor; and was plet
exhibit himself before other men, who derided and
despised him, in his character of male lady's-maid and
man milliner. Nor could he think enough of his
existence from a moral point of view. Wickedness
seemed to him an essentially male attribute, and to
pass one's days with a delicate woman, and principally
occupied about trimmings, was to inhabit an enchanted
isle among the storms of life.

One line morning he came into the drawing-room
and began to arrange some music on the lop of the
piano. Lady Vandeleur, at the other end of the
apartment, was speaking somewhat eagerly with her
brother, Charlie Pendragon, an elderly young man,
much broken with dissipation, and very lame of one
foot. The private secretary, to whose entrance they
paid no regard, could not avoid ovurli caring a part of
their conversation.

" To-day or never," said the lady. " Once and tor
all, it shall be done to-day,"

" To-day, if it must be," replied the brother, with a
sigh. "But it is a false step, a ruinous step, Clara;
and we shall live to repent it dismally."

Lady Vandeleur looked her brother steadily and
somewhat strangely in the face.

"You forget," she said; "the man must die at
last."

"Upon my word, Clara," said Pendragon, "I
believe you are the most heartless rascal in England."

" You men," she returned, " are so coarsely built, that
you can never appreciate a shade of meaning. You
are yourselves rapacious, violent, immodest, careless oi
distmction; and yet the least thought for the future
shocks you in a woman. I have no patience with
such stuff. You would despise in a common banket
the imbecility that you expect to find in us."

"You are very likely right," replied her brother;
"you were always cleverer than I. And, anyway, you
know my motto; the family before all."

i^^.^_ki

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND.

93

"Yes, Charlie," she returned, taking his hand in
hers, "I know your motto better than you know it
yourself. And ' Clara before the family ! ' Is not
that the second part of it ? Indeed, you are the best
of brothers, and I love you dearly."

Mr, Pendragon got up, looking a little confused by
these family endearments.

" I had better not be seen," said he. " I understand my
part to a miracle, and I'll 'keep an eye on the Tame Cat."

" Do," she replied. " He is an abject creature, and
might ruin all."

She kissed the tips of her fingers to him daintily; and
the brother withdrew by the boudoir and the back stair,

" Harry," said Lady Vaiideleur, turning towards
the secretary as soon as they were alone. "I have a
commission for you this morning. But you shall take
a cab; I cannot have my secretary freckled."

She spoke the last words with emphasis and a look of
half-motherly pride that caused great contentment to
poor Harry; and he professed himself charmed to find
an opportunity of serving her.

"It is another of our great secrets," she went on,
archly, "and no one must know of it but my secretary
and me. Sir Thomas would make the saddest dis-
turbance; and if you only knew how weary I am of
these scenes ! Oh, Harry, Harry, can you explain to
me what makes you men so violent and unjust ? But,
indeed, I know you cannot; you are the only man in
the world who knows nothing of these shameful pas-
sions; you are so good, Harry, and so kind; you, at
least, can be a woman's friend ; and, do you know ? I
think you make the others more ugly by comparison."

" It is you," said Harry, gallantly, " who are so kind
to me. You treat me like "

"Like a mother," interposed Lady Vandeleur, "I
try to be a mother to you. Or, at least," she corrected

herself with a smile, ' almost a mother.
am too young to be your mother really,
friend — a dear friend."

afraid I
Let us say »

N£fV ARABIAN NIGHTS.

She paused long enoTigh to let her words take effeci
in Harry's sentimental quarters, but not long enough
to allow him a reply.

" But all this is beside our purpose," she resumed.
" Vou will find a bandbox in the left-hand side of the
oak wardrobe; it is underneath the piok slip that I
wore on Wednesday with my Mechlin. You wiU take
it immediately to this address," and she gave him a
paper, " but do not, on any account, let it out of your
hands until you have received a receipt written by
myself. Do you understand ? Answer, if you please
— answer ! This is extremely important, and I must
ask you to pay some attention."

Harry pacified her by repeating her instructions per-
fectly; and she was just going to tell him more when
General Vandeleur dung into the apartment, scarlet
with anger, and holdinga long and elaborate milliner's
bill in his hand.

" Will you look at this, madam ? " cried he. " Will
you have the goodness to look at this document ? I
know well enough you married me for my money, and
I hojje I can make as great allowance as any other
man in the service; but, as sure as God made me, I
mean to put a period to this disreputable prodigahty."

" Mr. Hartley," said Lady Vandeleur, I think you
understand wh.it you have to do. May I ask you to
see to it at once?"

Stop," said the General, addressing Harry, "one ■
word before you go." And then, turning again to
Lady Vandeleur, 'What is this precious fellow's
errand?" he demanded. "I trust him no further than
I do yourself, let me tell you. If he had as much as
the rudiments of honesty, he would scorn to stay in
this house; and what he does for his wages is a mys-
tery to all the world. What is his errand, madam ? and
why are you hurrying him away ?"

' I supposed you had something to say to me in pri-
vate," replied the lady.

" You spoke about an errand," insisted the General

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND.

95

"Do not attempt to deceive me in my present state of
temper. You certainly spoke about an errand."

" If you insist on making your servants privy to our
humiliating dissensions," replied Lady Vandeleur.
"perhaps I had better ask Mr. Hartley to sit down
No ? " she continued; " then you may go, Mr. Hartley.
I trust you may remember all that you have heard in
this room; it may be useful to you."

Harry at once made his escape from the drawing-
room; and as he ran upstairs he could hear the Gen-
eral's voice upraised in declamation, and the thin tones
of Lady Vandeleur planting icy repartees at every
opening. How cordially he admired the wife! How
skilfully she could evade an awkward question! with
what secure effrontery she repeated her instructions
under the very guns of the enemy! and on the other
hand, how be detested the husband!

There bad been nothing unfamiliar in the morning's
events, for he was continually in the habit of serving
Lady Vandeleur on secret missions, principally con-
nected with miUinery. There was a skeleton in the
house, as he well knew. The bottomless extravagance
and the unknown liabiUties of the wife had long since
swallowed her own fortune, and threatened day by day
to engulf that of the husband. Once or twice in
every year exposure and ruin seemed imminent, and
Harry kept trotting round to al! sorts of furnishers'
shops, telling small fibs, and paying small advances on
the gross amount, until another term was tided over,
and the lady and her faithful secretary breathed again.
For Harry, in a double capacity, was heart and soul
upon that side of the war: not only did he adore Lady
Vandeleur and fear and dishke her husband, but he
naturally sympathized with the love of finery, and his
own single extravagance was at the tailor's.

He found the bandbox where it had been described,
arranged his toilet with care, and left the house. The
sun shone brightly; the distance he had to travel was
considerable, and he remembered with dismay that the

L.

$6 MEW ARABIAN NICHTX

General's sudden irruption had prevented Lady Vra
deleur from giving him money for a. cab. On this
sultry day there was every chance that his complexion
would suffer severely; and to walk through so much
of London with a bandbox on his arm was a humilia-
tion almost insupportable to a youth of his character.
He paused, and took counsel with himself. The Van-
deleurs lived in Eaton Place; his destination was near
Notling Hill; plainly, he might cross the Park by
keeping well in the open and avoiding populous alleys;
and he thanked his stars when he reflected that it was
still comparatively early in the day.

Anxious to be rid of his incubus, he walked some-
what faster than his ordinary, and he was already some
way through Kensington Gardens when, in a solitary
spot among trees, he found himself confronted by the
General,

"I beg your pardon. Sir Thomas," observed Harry,
politely falling on one side; for the other stood directly
in his path.

" Where are you going, sir ? " asked the GeneraL

" I am taking a little walk among the trees," replied
the lad.

The Genera] struck the bandbox with his cane.

"With that thing?" he cried; "you lie, sir, and you
know you lie! "

" Indeed, Sir Thomas," returned Harry, " I am not
accustomed to be questioned in so high a key."

"You do not understand your position," said the
General. "You are my servant, and a servant of
whom I have conceived the most serious suspicions.
How do I know but that your box is lull of tea-
spoons?"

" It contains a silk hat belonging to a friend," said
Harry.

"Very well," replied General Vandeleur. "Then I
want to see your friend's silk hat. I have," he added,
grimly, "a singular curiosity for hats; and I believ*
you know me to be somewhat positive."

THE RAfAH-S DIAMOND.

97

"I beg your pardon, Sir Thomas, I am exceedingly
grieved," Harry apologized; " but indeed this is a pri-
vate affair."

The General caught him roughly by the shoulder
with one hand, while he raised his cane in the most
menacing manner with the other. Harry gave him-
self up for lost; but at the same moment Heaven
vouchsafed him an unexpected defender in the person
of Charlie Pendragon, who now strode forward from
behind the trees.

" Come, come. General, hold your hand," said he,
" this is neither courteous nor manly."

" Aha ! " cried the General, wheeling round upon
his new antagonist, "Mr. Pendragon! And do you
suppose, Mr. Pendragon, that because I have had the
misfortune to marry your sister, I shall suffer myself
to be dogged and thwarted by a discredited and bank-
rupt libertine like you ? My acquaintance with Lady
Vandeleur, sir, has taken away all my appetite for the
other members of her family."

" And do you fancy. General Vandeleur," retorted
Charlie, " that because my sister has had the misfor-
tune to marry you, she there and then forfeited her
rights and privileges as a lady ? I own, sir, that by
that action she did as much as anybody could to dero-
gate from her position; but to me she is still a Pen-
dragon. I make it ray business to protect her from
ungentlemanly outrage, and if you were ten times her
husband I would not permit her liberty to be
restrained, nor her private messenger to be violently
arrested."

" How is that, Mr. Hartley ?" interrogated the Gen-
eral, " Mr. Pendragon is of tny opinion, it appears.
He too suspects that Lady Vandeleur has something
to do with your friend's silk hat."

Charlie saw that he had committed an unpardonable
blunder, which he hastened to repair.

" How, sir ? " he cried; "' I suspect, do you say ? I
suspect nothing. Only where I find strength abused

gS

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

and a man bnitaiizing his inferiors, I take the libeit
to interfere."

As he said these words he made a sign to Harry,
which the latter was too dull or too much troubled to
understand.

" In what way am I to construe your attitude, sir ? "
demanded Vandeleur.

" Why, sir, as you please," returned Pendragon,

The General once more raised his cane, and made
a cut for Charlie's head; but the latter, lame foot and
all, evaded the blow with his umbrella, ran in, and
immediately closed with his formidable adversary.

" Run, Harry, run ! " he cried; " run, you dolt ! "

Harry stood petrified for a moment, watching the
two men sway together in this fierce embrace; then he
turned and took to his heels. When he cast a glance
over his shoulder he saw the General prostrate under
Charlie's knee, but still making desperate efforts to
reverse the situation; and the Gardens seemed to have
filled with people, who were running from all direc-
tions towards the scene of fight. This spectacle lent
the secretary wings; and he did not relax his pace
until he had gained the Bayswater road, and plunged
at random into an unfrequented by-street.

To see two gentlemen of his acquaintance thus bru-
tally mauling each other was deeply shocking to Harry.
He desired to forget the sight; he desired, above all,
to put as great a distance as possible between himseli
and General Vandeleur; and in his eagerness for this
he forgot everything about his destination, and hurried
before him headlong and trembling, When he remem-
bered that Lady Vandeleur was the wife of one and
sister of the other of these gladiators, his heart was
touched with sympathy for a woman so distressingly
misplaced in life. Even his own situation in the Gen-
eral's house looked hardly so pleasing as usual in the
light of these violent transactions.

He had walked some little distance, busied with
these meditations, before a slight collision with

I i

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND.

99

another passenger reminded him of the bandbox on
his arm.

" Heavens ! " cried he, " where was my head ? and
whither have I wandered ? "

Thereupon he consulted the envelope which Lady
Vandeleur had given him. The address was (here,
but without a name. Harry was simply directed to
ask for " the gentleman who expected a parcel from
Lady Vandeleur," and if he were not at home to
await his return. The gentleman, added the note,
should present a receipt in the handwriting of the lady
herself. All this seemed mighty mysterious, and
Harry was above all astonished at the omission of the
name and the formality of the receipt. He had
thought little of this last when he heard it dropped in
conversation; but reading it in cold blood, and taking
it in connection with the other strange particulars, he
became convinced that he was engaged in perilous
affairs. For half a moment he had a doubt of Lady
Vandeleur herself; for he found these obscure pro-
ceedings somewhat unworthy of so high a lady, and
became more critical when her secrets were preserved
against himself. But her empire over his spirit was
too complete, he dismissed his suspicions, and blamed
himself roundly for having so much as entertained
them.

In one thing, however, his duty and interest, his
generosity and his terrors, coincided — to get rid of
the bandbox with the greatest possible despatch.

He accosted the first policeman and courteously
inquired his way. It turned out that he was already
not far from his destination, and a walk of a few
minutes brought him to a small house in a lane, freshly
painted, and kept with the most scrupulous attention.
The knocker and bell-pull were highly polished;
flowering pot-herbs garnished the sills of the different
windows; and curtains of some rich material con-
cealed the interior from the eyes of curious passen-
gers. The place had an air of repose and secresy,-

loo NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

and Harry was so far caught with this spirit that 1
knocked with more than usual discretion, and was
more than usually careful to remove all impurity
from his hoots.

A servant-maid of some personal attractions imme-
diately opened the door, and seemed to regard the
secretary with no unkind eyes.

" ' ': the parcel from Lady Vandeleur," said

' replied the maid, with a nod. " But thi
s from home. Will you leave

ith

Harry.
" I km

" I cannot," answered Harry. " I am directed not
to part with it but upon a certain condition, and I
must ask you, I am afraid, to let me wait."

" Well," said she, " I suppose I may let you wait. I
am lonely enough, I can tell you, and you do not look
as though you would eat a girl. But be sure and do
not ask the gentleman's name, for that I am not lo tell
you."

" Do you say so ? " cried Harry. " Why, how
strange! But indeed for some time hack I walk
among surprises. One question I think I may surely
ask without indiscretion: Is he the master of this

" He is a lodger, and not eight days old at that,"
returned the maid. " And now a question for a ques-
tion: Do you know Lady Vandeleur ?"

" I am her private secretary," replied Harry, with a
glow of modest pride.

" She is pretty, is she not ? " pursued the servant,

"Oh, beautiful !" cried Harry; "wonderfully lovely,
and not less good and kind! "

" Vou look kind en
"and I wager you are
leurs."

Harry was properly s

'I! " he cried.

ugh yourself," she retorted;
ivorlh a dozen Lady Vande-

' Do you r

indalized,

inly a secretary! "

ti that for me ? " said the girl.

J u

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND. lOI

cause I am only a, houseinaid, if you please." And
then, relenting at the sight of Harry's obvious con-
fusion, "I know you mean nothing of the sort," she
added; " and I like your looks; but I think nothing
of your Lady Vandeleur, Oh, these rnistresses!" she
cried. " To send out a real gentleman like you — with
a bandbox — in broad day! "

During this talk they had remained in their original
positions — she on the doorstep, he on the sidewalk,
bareheaded for the sake of -coolness, and with the
bandbox on his arm. But upon this last speech Harry,
who was unable to support such point-blank compli-
ments to his appearance, nor the encouraging look
with which they were accompanied, began to change
his attitude, and glance from left to right in perturba-
tion. In so doing he turned his face towards thp
lower end of the lane, and there, to his indescribable
dismay, his eyes encountered those of General Vande-
leur. The General, in a prodigious fluster of heat,
hurry, and indignation, had been scouring the streets
in chase of his brother-in-law; but so soon as he
caught a glimpse of the dehnquent secretary his pur-
pose changed, his anger flowed into a new channel,
and he turned on his heel and came tearing up the
lane with truculent gestures and vociferations.

Harry made but one bolt of it into the house, driv-
ing the maid before him; and the door was slammed
in his pursuer's countenance.

" Is there a bar ? Will it lock ? " asked Harry, while
a salvo on the knocker made the house echo from
wall to wall.

" Why, what is wrong with you ? " asked the maid,
" Is it this old gentler

le," whispered Harry, " I am
s been pursuing me all day,
and is an Indian military

" If he gets hold of r
■ s dead. He ha
. sword-stick.

" These are fine manners," cried the maid. " And
what, if you please, may be his name ? "

lOJ NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

" It is the General, my master," answered Hal
" He is after this bandbox."

" Did not I tell you ? " cried the maid in triumph.
" I told you I thought worse than nothing of your
I^dy Vandeleur; and if you had an eye in your head
you might see what she is for yourself. Ad ungrateful
minx, I will be bound for that! "

The General renewed his attack upon the knocker,
and his passion growing with delay, began to kick and
beat upon the panels of the door.

" It is lucky," observed the girl, " that I am alone in
the house; your Genera! may hammer until he is
weary, and there is none to open for him. Follow
me!"

So saying she led Harry into the kitchen, where she
made him sit down, and stood by him herself in an
affectionate attitude, with a hand upon his shoulder.
The din at the door, so far from abating, continued to
increase in volume, and at each blow the unhappy sec-
retary was shaken to the heart.

" What is your name ? " asked the girl.

" Harry Hartley," he replied.

" Mine," she went on, ' is Prudence. Do you like
it?"

" Very much," said Harry. ' ' But hear for a moment
how the General beats upon the door. He will cer-
tainly break it in, and then, in heaven's name, what
have I to look for hut death ? "

"You put yourself very much about with no occas-
ion," answered Prudence, " Let your General knock,
he will do no more than blister his hands. Do you
think I would keep you here if I were not sure to
save you ? Oh, no, I am a good friend to those that
please me ! and we have a back door upon another
lane. But," she added, checking him, for he had got
upon his feet immediately on this welcome news, " but
I will not show where it is unless you kiss me. Will
you, Harry?"

" That I will," he cried, remembering his gallanttji

THE RA VAH'S DIAMOND.

103

"not for your back door, but because you are good
and pretty."

And he administered two or three cordial salutes,
which were returned to him in kind.

Then Prudence led him to the back gate, and put
her hand upon the key.

" Will you come and see me ? " she asked.

"I will indeed," said Harry. "Do not I owe you

" And now," she added, opening the door, " run as
hard as you can, for 1 shall let in the General."

Harry scarcely required this advice; fear had him
by the forelock; and he addressed himself diligently
to flight. A few steps, and he believed he would
return to Lady Vandeleur in honor and safety. But
these few steps had not been taken before he heard a
man's voice, hailing him by name with many execra-
tions, and, looking over his shoulder, he beheld
Charlie Pendragon waving him with both arms to
return. The shock of this new incident was so
sudden and profound, and Harry was already
worked into so high a state of nervous tension, that
he could think of nothing better than to accelerate his
pace, and continue running. He should certainly have
remembered the scene in Kensington Gardens ; he
should certainly have concluded that, where the General
was his enemy, Charlie Pendragon could be no other
than a friend. But such was the fever and perturba-
tion of his mind that he was struck by none of these
considerations, and only continued to run the faster up
the lane.

Charlie, by the sound of his voice and the vile
terms that he hurled after the secretary, was obviously
beside himself with rage. He, too, ran his very best;
but, try as he might, the physical advantages were not
upon his side, and his outcries and the fall of his lame
foot on the macadam began to fall farther and farther
into the wake.

Harry's hopes began once more to arise. The Una

A'EIV ARABIAN NXGJIT^.

was both steep and narrow, but it was exceedingly
solitary, bordered on either hand by garden walls,
overhung with foliage; and, for as far as the fugitive
could see in front of him, there was neither a creature
moving nor an open door. Providence, weary of per-
secution, was now offering him an open field for his
escape.

Alas! as he came abreast of a garden door under a
tuft of chestnuts, it was suddenly drawn back, and he
could see inside, upon a garden path, the figure of a
butcher's boy with his tray upon his arm. He had
hardly recognized the fact before he was some steps
beyond upon the other side. But the fellow had had
time to observe him; he was evidently much surprised
to see a gentleman go by at so unusual a pace; and he
came out into the lane and began to call after Harry
with shouts of ironical encouragement.

His appearance gave a new idea to Charlie Pen-
dragon, who, although he was now sadly out of breath,
once more upraised his voice.

"Stop thief!" he cried.

And immediately the butcher's boy had taken up
the cry and joined in the pursuit.

This was a bitter moment for the hunted secretary.
It is true that his terror enabled him once more to
improve his pace, and gain with every step on his pur-
suers; but he was well aware that he was near the end
of his resources, and should he meet anyone coming
the other way, his predicament in the narrow lane
would be desperate indeed.

" I must find a place of concealment," he thought,
" and that within the ne\t few seconds, or all is over
with me in this world."

Scarcely had the thought crossed his mind than the
lane took a sudden turning ; and he found himself hid-
den from his enemies. There are circumstances in
which even the least energetic of mankind learn to
behave with vigor and decision ; and the more cautious
foEflet their prudence and embrace foolhardy resolu-

THE EAyAH'S DIAMOND.

"S

tions. This was one of fhose occasions for Harry
Hartley; and those who knew him Lesfwould have
been the most astonished at the lad's audacity. He
stopped dead, flung the bandbox over a garden wall,
and leaping upward with incredible agility and seizing
the copestone with his hands, he tumbled headlong
after it into the garden.

He came to himself a moment afterwards, sealed in
a border of small rosebushes. His hands and knees
were cut and bleeding, for the wall had been protected
against such an escalade by a libera! provision of old
bottles ; and he was conscious of a general dislocation
and a painful swimming in the head. Facing him
across the garden, which was in admirable order, and
set with flowers of the most delicious perfume, he
beheld the back of a house. It was of considerable
extent, and plainly habitable ; but, in odd contrast to
the grounds, it was crazy, ill-kept, and of a mean
appearance. On all other sides the circuit of the gar-
den wail appeared unbroken.

He took in these features of the scene with mechan-
ical glances, but his mind was still unable to piece
together or draw a rational conclusion from what he
saw. And when he heard footsteps advancing on
ihe gravel, although he turned his eyes in that
direction, it was with no thought either for defense
or flight.

The new comer was a large, coarse, and very sordid
personage, in gardening clothes, and wiih a watering-
pot in his left hand. One less confused would have
been affected with some alarm at the sight of this
man's huge proportions and black and lowering eyes.
But Harry was too gravely shaken by his fall to be so
much as terrified ; and if he
glances from the gardener, he
passive, and suffered him to dra
by the shoulder, and to plant him
without a motion of resisliince.

For a moment the two stared into each other's eyes,

s unable to divert his
mained absolutely
near, to take him
lughly on his feet,

^1

106

^SJF ARABIA. V NIGHTS.

Harry fascinated, the man filled with wrath and a cruel
sneering humor.

" Who are you ? " he demanded at last. " Who are
you to come flying over my wall and break my Gloirt
de Dijons ! What is your name ? " he added, shaking
him ; " and what may be your business here ? "

Harry could not as much as proffer a word in
explanation.

But just at that moment Pendragon and the butch-
er's boy went clumping past, and the sound of their
feet and their hoarse cries echoed loudly in the nar-
row lane. The gardener had received his answer ; and
he looked down into Harry's face with an obnoxious
smile.

" A thief ! " he said. " Upon my word, and a very
good thing you must make of it ; for I see you dressed
like a gentleman from top to toe. Are you not
ashamed to go about the world in such a trim, with
honest folk, I dare say, glad to buy your cast-off finery
second-hand ? Speak up, you dog," the man went on ;
" you can understand English, I suppose ; and I mean
to have a bit of talk with you before I march you to
the station,"

"Indeed, sir," said Harry, "this is all a dreadful mis-
conception ; and if you will go with me to Sir Thomas
Vandeleur's in Eaton Place, 1 can promise that all will
be made plain. The most upright person, as I now
perceive, can be led into suspicious positions."

"My little man," replied the gardener,"! will go
with you no farther than the station-house in the next
street. The inspector, no doubt, will be glad to take
a stroH with you as far as Eaton Place, and have a bit
of afternoon tea with your great acquaintances. Or
would you prefer to go direct to the Home Secretary ?
Sir Thomas Vandeleur, indeed .' Perhaps you think I
don't know a gentleman when I see one, from a con^
mon run-the-hedge like you ? Clothes or no clothes, I
can read you like a book. Here is a shirt that maybe
cost as much as my Sunday hat ; and that coat, I takv

it, has n

THE RAJAHS DIAMOND. 107

seen the inside of Rag-fair, and then your

The man, whose eyes had fallen upon the ground,
stopped short in his insulting commentary, and
remained for a moment looking intently upon something
at his feet. When he spoke his voice was strangely
altered.

" What, in God's name," said he, " is all this ? "
Harry, following the direction of the man's eyes,
beheld a spectacle that struck him dumb with terror
and amazement. In his fall he had descended vertic-
ally upon the bandbox and burst it open from end to
end ; thence a great treasure of diamonds had poured
forth, and now lay abroad, part trodden in the soil,
part scattered on the surface in regal and glittering
profusion. There was a magnificent coronet which he
had often admired on Lady Vandeleur ; there were
rings and brooches, ear-drops and bracelets, and even
unset brilliants rolling here and there among the
rosebushes like drops of morning dew. A princely
fortune lay between the two men upon the ground — a
fortune in the most inviting, solid, and durable form,
capable of being carried in an apron, beautiful in itself,
and scattering the sunlight in a million rainbow flashes.
" Good God ! " said Harry, " I am lost ! "
His mind raced backward into the past with the
incalculable velocity of thought, and he began to com-
prehend his day's adventures, to conceive them as a
whole, and to recognize the sad imbroglio in which Ms
own character and fortunes had become involved. He
looked round him, as if for help, but he was alone in
the garden, with his scattered diamonds and his
redoubtable interlocutor ; and when he gave ear, there
was no sound but the rustle of the leaves and the
hurried pulsation of his heart. It was little wonder
if the young man felt himself a little deserted by
his spirits, and with a broken voice repeated hi» last
ejaculatio

"la

1 lost !

loS

A'EU- AP.ABIAJf KIGHTS.

The gardener peered in all directions with an iilr of
guilt ; but there was no face at any of the windows,
and he seemed to breathe again.

"Pick up a heart," he said, "you fool ! The worst
of it is done. Why could you not say at first there
was enough for two ? Two ! " he repeated, " aye, and
for two hundred ! But come away from here, where
we may be observed ; and, for the love of wisdom,
straighten out your hat and brush your clothes. You
could not travel two steps the figure of fun you look
just now."

While Harry mechanicatly adopted these sugges-
tions, the gardener, getting upon his knees, hastily
drew together the scattered jewels and returned them
to the bandbox. The touch of these costly crystals
sent a shiver of emotion through the man's stalwart
frame ; his face was transfigured, and his eyes shone
with concupiscence ; indeed it seemed as if he luxuri-
ously prolonged his occupation, and dallied with every
diamond that he handled. At last, however, it was
done ; and, concealing the bandbox in his smock, the
gardener beckoned to Harry and preceded him in the
direction of the house.

Near the door they were met by a young man evi-
dently in holy orders, dark and strikingly handsome,
with a look of mingled weakness and resolution,
and very neatly attired after the manner of his caste.
The gardener was plainly annoyed by this encounter ;
but he put as good a face upon it as he could, and
accosted the clergyman with an obsequious and smil-
ing air.

■' Here is a fine afternoon, Mr. Rolles," said he : "a
fine afternoon, as sure as God made it ! And here is a
young friend of mine who had a fancy to look at my
roses. I took the liberiy to bring him in, for I thought
none of the lodgers would object."

" Speaking for myself," replied the Reverend Mr.
Rolles, " I do not ; nor do I fancy any of the rest of
us would be more difficult upon so small a matter.

THE RAJAIl-S DIAMOND. 105

The garden is your owii, Mr. Raebura ; we must none
of UB forget that ; and because you give us liberty to
walk there we should be indeed ungracious if we so far
presumed upon your politeness as to interfere with the
convenience of your friends. But, on second thoughts,"
he added, " I believe that this gentleman and I have met
before. Mr. Hartley, I think. I regret to observe
that you have had a fall."

And he offered his hantj.

A sort of maiden dignity and a desire to delay as
long as possible the necessity for explanation moved
Harry to refuse this chance of help, and to deny his
own identity. He chose the tender mercies of the
gardener, who was at least unknown to him, rather
than the curiosity and perhaps the doubts of an

' I fear there is some mistake," said he. " My
name is Thomlinson and I am a friend of Mr. Rae-
bum's."

" Indeed ? " said Mr. Rolles. " The likeness is

Mr. Raebum, who had been upon thorns through-
out this colloquy, now fell it high time to bring it to a
period.

" I wish you a pleasant saunter, sir," said be.

And with that he dragged Harry after him into the
house, and then into a chamber on the garden. His
first care was to draw down the blind, for Mr, Rolles
Btill remained where they had left him, in an attitude
of perplexity and thought. Then he emptied the
broken bandbox on the table, and stood before the
treasure, thus fully displayed, with an expression of
rapturous greed, and rubbing his hands upon his thighs.
For Harry, the sight of the man's face under the influ-
ence of this base emotion, added another pang to thosa
he was already suffering. It seemed incredible that,
from his life of pure and delicate trifling, he should be
phmgcd in a breath among sordid and criminal rela-
tions. He could reproach his conscience with no sinful

fTBtr ARABIAN HtGBTS.

act ; and yet he was now sufEering the punishment o
sin in its most acute and cnie! fonas — the dread of

punishment, the suspicions of the good, and the com-
panionship and contamination of vile and brutal
natures. He felt he could lay his life down with glad-
ness to escape from the room anc^ the society of Mr.
Raeburn.

" And now," said the latter, after he had separated
the jewels into two nearly equal parts, and drawn one
of ilietnnearer to himself ; "and now," said he, "every-
thing in this world has to be paid for, and some things
sweetly. You must know, Mr. Hartley, if such be your
name, that I am a man of a very easy temper, and good
nature has been my stumbling block from first to last.
I could pocket the whole of these pretty pebbles, if I
chose, and I should like to see you dare to say a word;
but I think I must have taken a liking to you ; for I
declare I have not the heart to shave you so close. So,
do you see, in pure kind feeling, I propose that we
divide ; and these," indicating the two heaps, " are the
proportions that seem to me just and friendly. Do you
see any objection, Mr. Hartley, may I ask? I am not
the man to stick upon a brooch."

" But, sir," cried Harry, " what you propose to me
is impossible. The jewels are not mine, and I cannot
share what is another's, no matter with whom, nor in
what proportions."

" They are not yours, ar<
Raeburn. " And you could r
body, couldn't you ? Well n
pity ; for here I am obliged ti
The police — think of that "

: they not ? " returned
ot share them with any-
low, that is what I call a
3 take you to the station.
' e continued ; " think of

the disgrace for your respectable parents ; think,"
went on, taking Harry by the wrist; "think of the
Colonies and the Day of Judgment."

"I cannot help it," wailed Harry. "It is not my
fault. You will not come with me to Eaton Place."

" No," replied the man, " I will not, that is certain.
And I mean to divide these playthings with you here."

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND. Ill

saying he applied a sudden and severe tor*
sion to the lad's wrist.

Harry could not suppress a scream, and the perspira-
tion burst forth upon his face. Perhaps pain and
terror quickened his intelligence, but certainly at that
moment the whole business flashed across him in
another light ; and he saw that there was nothing for
it but to accede to the ruffian's proposal, and trust to
find the house and force him to disgorge, under more
favorable circumstances, and when, he himself was
clear from ail suspicion.

"I agree," he said-

" There is a lamb," sneered the gardener. " I thought
you would recognize your interests at last. This band-
box," he continued, ' Ishallbumwithmyrubbish; itis
athingthat curious folk might recognize; and as for you,
scrape up your gaieties and put them in your pocket,"

Harry proceeded to obey, Raeburn watching him,
and every now and again, his greed rekindled by some
bright scintillation, abstracting another jewel from the
secretary's share, and adding it to his own.

When this was finished, both proceeded to the front
door, which Raeburn cautiously opened to obiierve
the street. This was apparently clear of passengers ;
for he suddenly seized Harry by the nape of the neclt,
and holding his face downward so that he could see
nothing but the roadway and the doorsteps of the
houses, pushed him violently before him down one
street and up another for .the space of perhaps a
minute and a half. Harry had counted three comers
before the bully relaxed his grasp, and crying, " Now
be off with you ! " sent the lad flying headforemost
with a well-directed and athletic kick.

When Harry gathered himself up, half-stunned and
bleeding freely at the nose, Mr. Raeburn had entirely
disappeared. For the first time, anger and pain so
completely overcame the lad's spirits that he burst into
a fit of tears and remained sobbing in the middle of
the road.

li» NEW ARABIA.W NIGHTS.

After be had thns somewhat assuaged his emohon,
he began to look zbout him and read the names of the
streets at whose intersection he had been deserted by
the gardener. He was still in an unfrequented portion
of West London, among villas and large gardens ; but
he could see some persons at a window who had evi-
dently witnessed his misfortune ; and almost immedi-
ately after a sen-ant came running from the house and
offered him a glass of water. At the same time, a
dirty rogue, who had been slouching somewhere in the
neighborhood, drew near him from the other side,

" Poor fellow," said the maid, " how vilely you have
been handled, to be sure ! Why, your knees are all
cut, and your clothes ruined ! Do you know the
wretch who used you so ? "

" That 1 do ! ■' cried Harry, who was somewhat
refreshed by the water ; " and shall run him home in
spite of his precautions. He shall pay dearly for this
day's work, I promise you."

" You had better come into the house and have
yourself washed and brushed," continued the maid.

My mistress will make you welcome, never fear.
And see, I will pick up yout hat. Why, love o£
mercy!" she screamed, "if you have not dropped
diamonds all over the street ! "

Such was the case ; a good half of what remained to
him after the depredations of Mr. Raebiim, had been
shaken out of his pockets by the summersault, and
once more lay glittering on the ground. He blessed
his fortune that the maid had been so quick of eye ;
" there is nothing so bad but it might be worse,"
thought he ; and the recovery of these few seemed to
him almost as great an affair as the loss of all the rest
But, alas ! as he stooped to pick up his treasures the
loiterer made a rapid onslaught, overset both Harry
and the maid with a movement of his arms, swept up
a double handful of the diamonds, and made off along
the street with an amazing swiftness.

Harry, as soon as he could get upon his feet, gave

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND.

Vith E

i, but the latter

e to the miscreant w
was too fleet of foot, and probably loo well acquainted
with the locahty ; for turn where the pursuer would he
could find no traces of the fugitive.

In the deepest despondency Harry revisited the
scene of his mishap, where the maid, who was still
waiting, very honestly returned him his hat and the
remainder of the fallen diamonds. Harry thanked her
from his heart, and being now in no humor for econ-
omy, made his way to the nearest cabstand and set off
for Eaton Place by coach.

The house, on his arrival, seemed in some confusion,
as if a catastrophe had happened in the family ; and
the servants clustered together in the hall, and
were unable, or perhaps not altogether anxious, to sup-
press their merriment at the tatterdemalion figure of
the secretary. He passed them with as good an air of
dignity as he could assume, and made directly for the
boudoir. When he opened the door an astonishing
and even menacing spectacle presented itself to his
eyes ; for he beheld the General and his wife and, of
all people, Charlie Pendragon, closeted together and
speaking with earnestness and gravity on some import-
ant subject. Harry saw at once that there was little
left for him to explain — plenary confession had plainly
been made to the General of the intended fraud upon
his pocket, and the unfortunate miscarriage of the
scheme ; and they had all made common cause against
a common danger.

" Thank Heaven ! " cried Liidy Vandeleur, " here
he is ! The bandbox, Harry — the bandbox ! "

But Harry stood before them silent and downcast.

" Speak ! " she cried. " Speak ! Where is the
bandbox ? "

And the men, with threatening gestures, repeated
the demand.

Harry drew a handful of jewels from his pocket.
He was very white.

"This is all that remains," said he. "I declare

114 NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

before Heaven it was through no fault of mine ;
if you will have patience, although some are lost, I am
afraid, for ever, others, I am sure, may be still recov-
ered ! "

" Alas ! " cried Lady Vandeieur, " all our diamonds
are gone, and I owe ninety thousand pounds for
dress ! "

" Madam," said the General, " you might have paved
the gutter with your own trash ; you might have made
debts to fifty times the sum you mention ; you might
have robbed me of my mother's coronet and rings ; and
Nature might have still so far prevailed that I could
have forgiven you at last. But, madam, you have
taken the Rajah's Diamond — the Eye of Light, as the
Orientals poetically termed it — the Pride of Kashgar !
You have taken from me the Rajah's Diamond," he
cried, raising his hands, " and all, madam, all is at an
end between us ! "

"Believe me, General Vandekur," she replied,
"that is one of the most agreeable speeches that ever
I heard from your lips ; and since we are to be ruined
I could almost welcome the change, if it delivers me
from you. You have told me often enough that I
married you for your money ; let me tell you now that
I always bitterly repented the bargain ; and if you
were still marriageable, and had a diamond bigger than
your head, I should counsel even my maid against a
union so uninviting and disastrous. As for you, Mr.
Hartley," she continued, turning on the secretary,
"you have sufficiently exhibited your valuable quali-
ties in this house ; we are now persuaded that you
equally lack manhood, sense and self-respect ; and I
can see only one course open for you — to withdraw
instanter, and, if possible, return no more. For your
wages you may rank as a creditor in my late husband's
bankruptcy."

Harry had scarcely comprehended this insulting
address before the General was down upon him with
another.

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND. II5

" And in the mean time," said that personage, " fol-
low me before the nearest Inspector of Police. You
may impose upon a simple-minded soldier, sir, but the
eye of the law will read your disreputable secret. If I
must spend my old age in poverty through your under-
hand intriguing with my wife, I mean at least that you
shall not remain unpunished for your pains ; and God,
sir, will deny me a very considerable satisfaction if you
do not pick oakum from now until your dying day."

With that the General dragged Harry from the apart-
ment, and hurried him downstairs and along the street
to the police-station of the district.

Here (says my Arabian author) ended this deplorable
business of the bandbox. But to the unfortunate Secre-
tary the whole affair was the be/winning of a new and man-
lier life. Tkefioliee were easily persuaded of his inno-
cence ; and, after he had given what help he could in the
subsequent investigations, he was even complimented by oiie
of the chiefs of the detective department on the probity and
simplicity of his behavior. Several persons interested
themselves in one so unfortunate j and soon after he inher-
ited a sum of money from a maiden aunt in Worcestershire.
With this he married Prudence, and set sail for Bendigo,
or according to anot/ier account, for Trincomalce, exceed-
ingly content, and with the best of prospects.

STORY OF THE YOUNG MAN IN HOLY
OHDJZRS.

The Reverend Mr. Simon Rolles had distinguished
himself in the Moral Sciences, and was more than
usually proficient in the study of Divinity. His essay
"On the Christian Doctrine of the Social Obligations"
obtained for him at the moment of its production, a
certain celebrity in the University of Oxford; and it
was understood in clerical and learned circles that
young Mr. Rolles had in contemplation a considerable
work — a foho, it was said — on the authority of the
Fathers of the Church. These attainments, these ambi-
tious designs, however, were far from helping him to
any preferment ; and still he was in quest of his first
curacy when a chance ramble in that part of London,
the peaceful and rich aspect of the garden, a desire
for solitude and study, and the cheapness of the lodg-
ing, led him to take up his abode with Mr. Raebum, the
nurseryman of Stockdove Lane.

It was his habit every afternoon, after he had worked
seven or eight hours on St. Ambrose or St. Chrysostom,
to walk for a while in meditation among the roses.
And this was usually one of the most productive
moments of his day. But even a sincere appetite for
thought, and the excitement of grave problems await-
ing solution, are not always sufficient to preserve the
mind of the philosopher again.st the petty shocks and
contacts of the world. And when Mr. Rolles found
General Vandeleur's secretary, ragged and bleeding,
in the company of the landlord ; when he saw both
change color and seek to avoid his questions; and,
above all, when the former denied his own identity
with the most unmoved assurance, he speedily forgot
the Saints and Fathers in the vulgar interest of curiosity.

THE RAfAirs DTAAfOND.

117

" I cannot be mistaken," thought he. " That is Mr.
Hartley beyond a doubt. How comes he in such a
pickle ? why does he deny his name ? and what can be his
business with that black-looking ruffian, my landlord ? "

As he was thus reflecting, another pecuhar circum-
stance attracted his attention. The face of Mr. Rae-
burn appeared at a low window next the door ; and, as
chance directed, his eyes met those of Mr. Rolles.
The nurserjTnan seemed disconcerted, and even
alarmed ; and immediately after the blind of the apart-
ment was pulled sharply down.

" This may all be very well," reflected Mr. Rolles;
"it may be all excellently well; but I confess freely
that 1 do not think so. Suspicious, underhand, untruth-
ful, fearful of observation — I believe upon my soul,"
he thought, "the pair are plotting some disgraceful
action."

The detective that there is in all of us awoke and
became clamant in the bosom of Mr. Rolles; and with
a brisk, eager step, that bore no resemblance to his
usual gait, he proceeded to make the circuit of the
garden. When he came to the scene of Harry's esca-
lade, his eye was at once arrested by a broken rosebud
and marks of trampling on the mole. He looked
up, and saw scratches on the brick, and a rag of trouser
floating from a broken bottle. This, then, was the
mode of entrance chosen by Mr. Raeburn's particular
friend ! It was thus that General Vandeleur's secre-
tary came to admire a flower-garden ! The young
clergyman whistled softly to himself as he stooped to
examine the ground. He could make out where
Harry had landed from his perilous leap; he recog-
nized the flat foot of Mr. Raeburn where it had sunk
deeply in the soil as he pulled up the Secretary by the
collar; nay, on a closer inspection, he seemed to dis-
tinguish the marks of groping finger.';, as though some-
thing had been spilt abroad and eagerly collected.

" Upon my word." ho ifaougbt, " the thing grows
vastly interesting."

2JE W ARABIAN NIGHTS.

And just then he caught sight of something almon
entirely buried in the earth. In an instant he had dis-
interred a dainty morocco case, ornamented and
clasped in gilt. It had been trodden heavily under
foot, and thus escaped the hurried search of Mr, Rae-
burn. Mr. Rolles opened the case, and drew a long
breath of almost horrified astonishment; tor there lay
before him, in a cradle of green velvet, a diamond of
prodigious magnitude and of the finest water. It was
of the bigness of a duck's egg; beautifully shaped, and
without a t!aw; and as the sun shone upon it, it gave
forth a lustre like that of electricity, and seemed to
bum in his hand with a thousand internal fires.

He knew little of precious stones; but the Rajah's
Diamond was a wonder that explained itself; a village
child, if he found it, would run screaming for the near-
est cottage; and a savage would prostrate himself in
adoration before so imposing a fetish. The beauty
of the stone flattered the young clergyman's eyes; the
thought of its incalculable value overpowered his intel-
lect. He knew that what he held in his hand was
worth more than many years' purchase of an archie-
piscopal see; that it would build cathedrals more
stately than Ely or Cologne; that he who possessed it
was set free for ever from the primal curse, and might
follow his own inclinations without concern or hurry,
without let or hindrance. And as he suddenly turned
it, the rays leaped forth again with renewed brilliancy,
and seemed to pierce his very heart.

Decisive actions are often taken in a moment and
without any conscious deliverance from the rational
parts of man. So it was now with Mr. Rolles. He
glanced hurriedly round; beheld, like Mr. Raeburn
before him, nothing but the sunlit flower-garden, the
tall tree-tops, and the house with blinded windows ; and
in a trice he had shut the case, thrust it into his pocket,
and was hastening to his study with the speed of guilt
The Reverend Simon Rolles had stolen Uie Kajah'i
Diamond.

*»" ^*'

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND.

ti9

Early in the afternoon the police arrived with Harry
Hartley. The nurseryman, who was beside himself
with terror, readily discovered his hoard; and the
jewels were identified and inventoried in the presence
of the Secretary. As for Mr, Rolles, he showed him-
self in a most obliging temper, communicated what he
knew with freedom, and professed regret that he could
do no more to help the officers in their duty.

" Still," he added, " I suppose your business is
nearly at an end."

"By no means," replied the roan from Scotland
Yard; and he narrated the second robbery of which
Harry had been the immediate victim, and gave the
young clergyman a description of the more important
jewels that were still not found, dilating particularly
on the Rajah's Diamond.

" It must be worth a fortune," observed Mr. Rolles.

"Ten fortunes — twenty fortunes," cried the officer.

" The more it is worth," remarked Simon, shrewdly,
"the more difficult it must be to sell. Such a thing
has a physiognomy not to be disguised, and I should
fancy a man might as easily negotiate St. Paul's
Cathedral."

" Oh, truly ! " said the officer; " but if the thief be a
man of any intelligence, he will cut it into three or
four, and there will be still enough to make him rich,"

''Thank you," said the clergyman. "You cannot
imagine how much your conversation interests me."

Whereupon the functionary admitted that they knew
many strange things in his profession, and immediately
after took his leave.

Mr. Rolles regained his apartment. It seemed

smaller and barer than usual; the materials for his

greatworkhad never presented so little interest; and

l' he looked upon his library with the eye of scorn. He

[ took down, volume by volume, several Fathers of the

|| Church, and glanced them through; but they contained

£his purpose,
old gentlemen," thought he, " are no doubt

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

very valuable writers, but they seem to me conspicu-
ously ignorant of life. Here am I, with learning
enough to be a Bishop, and I positively do not know
how to dispose of a stolen diamond. I glean a hint
from a common policeman, and, with all my folios, I
cannot so much as put it into execution. This inspires
me with very low ideas of University training."

Herewith he kicked over his book-shelf and, putting
on his hat, hastened from the house to the club of
which he was a member. In such a place of mundane
resort he hoped to find some man of good counsel and
a shrewd experience in life. In the reading-room he
saw many of the country clergy and an Archdeacon;
there were three journalists and a writer upon the
Higher Metaphysic, playing pool; and at dinner only
the raff of ordinary club frequenters showed their
common-place and obliterated countenances. None of
these, thought Mr. Rolles, would know more on dan-
gerous topics than he knew himself; none of them A-ere
fit to give him guidance in his present strait. At
length, in the smoking-room, up many weary stairs, he
hit upon a gentleman of somewhat portly build and
dressed with conspicuous plainness. He was smoking
a cigar and reading the Fortnightly Review; his face
was singularly free from all sign of preoccupation or
fatigue: and there was something in his air which
seemed to invite confidence and to expect submission.
The more the young clergyman scrutinized his feat-
ures, the more he was convinced that he had fallen on
one capable of giving pertinent advice.

"Sir," said he, "you will excuse my abruptness; but
I judge you from your appearance to be preeminently
ft man of the world."

" I have indeed considerable claims to that distinc-
tion," replied the stranger, laying aside his magazine
with a look of mingled amusement and surprise.

" I, sir," continued the Curate, " am a recluse, a
student, a creature of ink-bottles and patristic folios.
A recent event has brought my folly vividly before mj

THE RAJAH'E DIAMOND. IZr

eyes, and I desire to instruct myself in life. By life,"
he added, " I do not mean Thackeray's novels; but the
crimes and secret possibilities of our society, and the
principles of wise conduct among exceptional events.
I am a patient reader; can the thing be learnt in
books ? "

" You put me in a difficulty," said the stranger. " I
confess I have no great notion of the use of books,
except to amusea railwayjourney; although, I believe,
there are some very exact treatises on astronomy, the
use of the globes, agriculture, and the art of making
paper- flowers. Upon the less apparent provinces of
life I fear you will find nothing truthful. Yet stay,"
he added, ' have you read Gaboriau ? "

Mr, RoUes admitted he had never even heard the

;ome notions from Gaboriau, '

" He is at least suggestive;

r much studied by Prince Bis-

; worst, lose your time in good

:e, " I am infinitely obliged by

" You may gather
resumed the strange
and as he is an auth
marck, you will, at t
society."

" Sir," said the Cut
your politeness."

" You have already more than repaid me," returned
the other.

" How ? " inquired Simon.

" By the novelty of your request," replied the gen-
tleman; and with a polite gesture, as though to ask
permission, he resumed the study of the Fortmghtly
Review.

On his way home Mr. Rolles purchased a work on
precious stones and several of Gaboriau's novels.
These last he eagerly skimmed until an advanced hour
in the morning; but although they introduced him to
many new ideas, he could nowhere discover what to do
with a stolen diamond. He was annoyed, moreover,
to find the information scattered amongst romantic
story-telling, instead of soberly set forth after the
r of a manual; and he concluded that, even if

I« NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

the writer had thought much upon these subjects,^
was totally lacking in educational method. For the
character and attainments of Lecoq, however, he wa>
unable to contain his admiration.

" He was truly a great creature," ruminated Mr.
Rolles. " He knew the world as I know Paley's
Evidences. There was nothing that he could not carry
to a termination with his own hand, and against the
largest odds. Heavens ! " he broke out suddenly, " is
not this the lesson ? Must 1 not learn to cut diamonds
for myself ! "

It seemed to him as if he had sailed at once out of
his perplexities; he remembered that he knew a jew.
eller, one B. >tacculloch, in Edinburgh, who would be
glad to put him in the way of the necessary training;
a few months, perhaps a few years, of sordid toil, and
he would be sufficiently expert to divide and suffi-
ciently cunning to dispose with advantage of the Ra-
jah's Diamond. That done, he might return to pursue
his researches at leisure, a wealthy and luxurious stu-
dent, envied and respected by all. Golden visions
attended him through his slumber, and he awoke
refreshed and light-hearted with the morning sun.

Mr. Raebum's house was on that day to be closed
by the police, and this afforded a pretext for his
departure. He cheerfully prepared his baggage, trans-
ported it to King's Cross, where he left it in the cloak-
room, and returned to the club to while away the after-
noon and dine.

" If you dine here to-day, Rolles," observed an
acquaintance, " you may see two of the most remark-

able men in England—
and old Jack Vandeleut."

" I have heard of the Princt
"and General Vandeleur I ha\

" General Vandeleur is an at
"This is his brother John, the
best judge of precious stones
acute diplomatists in Europe.

Ftorizel of Bohemia,

" replied Mr. Rolles;
even met in society."
! " returned the other,
liggest adventurer, the
and one of the most
Have you never heard

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND. l 2J

nia duel with the Due de Val d' Orge ? of his
exploits and atrocities when he was Dictator of Para-
giiay? of bis dexterity in recovering Sir Samuel Levy's
jewelry ? nor of his services in the Indian Mutiny —
services by which the Government profited, but which
the Government dared not recognize? You make me
wonder what we mean by fame, or even by infamy;
for Jack Vandeleur has prodigious claims to both.
Run down stairs," be continued, "take a table near
thenti, and keep your ears open. You will hear some
strange talk, or I am much misled."

" But how shall I know them 7 " inquired the cler-
gyman.

" Know them ! " cried his friend; " why, the Prince
is the finest gentleman in Europe, the only living crea-
ture who looks like a king; and as for Jack Vande-
leur, if you can imagine Ulysses at seventy years of
age, and with a sabre-cut across his face, you have the
man before you ! Know them, indeed ! Why, you
could pick either of them out of a Derby day! "

Rolles eagerly hurried to ihe dining-room. It was
as his friend had asserted; it was impossible to mis-
take the pair in question. Old John Vandeleur was
of remarkable force of body, and obviously broken to
the most difficult exercises. He had neither the car-
riage of a swordsman, nor of a sailor, nor yet of one
much inured to the saddle; but something made up of
all these, and the result and expression of many dif-
ferent habits and dexterities. His features were bold
and aquiline; his expression arrogant and predaiory;
his whole appearance that of a swift, violent, unscru-
pulous man of action; and his copious white hair and
the deep sabre-cut that traversed his nose and temple
added a note of savagery to a head already remarka-
ble and menacing in itself.

In his companion, the Prince of Bohemia, Mr,
Rolles was astonished to recognize the gendeman who
had recommended him the study of Gaboriau. Doubt-
less Prince Florizet, who rarely visited the club, of

U4 JViW ARABIAX fflGHTS.

which, as of most others, he wa^ an honorary oiemhcT,
had been waiting for John ''andeleur when Simon
accosted him on the prcTious evening.

The other diners had modestly retired into the
angics of the room, and left the distinguished pair in a
certain isolation, but the young clergyman was unrC'
strained by any sentiment of awe, and, marching up,
took his pla;:e at the nearest table.

The conversation was, indeed, new to the student's
ears. The ex-Dictator of Paraguay stated many
eitraordinary experiences in different quarters of the
world; and the Prince supplied a commentary wliich,
to a man of thought, was even more interesting than
the events themselves. Two forms of experience were
thus brought together and laid before the young cler-
gyman; and he did not know which to admire the
most — the desperate actor or the skilled expert in life;
the man who spoke boldly of his owTi deeds and perils,
or the man who seemed, like a god, to know all things
and to have suffered nothing. The manner of each
aptly fitted with his part in the discourse. The Dicta-
tor indulged in brutalities alike of speech and gesture;
his hand opened and shut and fell roughly on the table;
and his voice was loud and heady. The Prince, on
the other hand, seemed the very type of urbane docil-
ity and quiet; the least movement, the least inflection,
had with him a n-eightier significance than all the
shouts and pantomime of his companion; and if ever,
as must frequently have been the case, he described
some experience personal to himself, it was so aptly
dissimulated as to pass unnoticed with the rest.

At length the talk wandered on to the lale robberies
and the Rajah's Diamond.

" That diamond would be better in the sea,"
observed Prince Florizel.

"As a Vandeleur," replied the Dictator, " your High-
ness may imagine my dissent."

" I speak on grounds of public policy," pursued the
Prince. "Jewels so valuable should be reserved foi

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND.

"5

the collection of a Prince or the treasury of a great
nation. To liand them about among the common
sort of men is to set a price on Virtue's head; and if
the Rajah of Kashgar — a Prince, I understand, of
great enlightenment — desired vengeance upon the men
of Europe, he could hardly have gone more efBca-
ciously about his purpose than by sending us this
apple of discord. There is no honesty too robust for
such a trial. I myself, who have many duties and
privileges of my own— I myself, Mr. Vandaleur, could
scarcely handle the intoxicating crystal and be safe.
As for you, who are a diamond-hunter by taste and
profession, I do not believe there is a crime in the
calendar you would not perpetrate — I do not believe
you have a friend in the world whom you would not
eagerly betray— I do not know if you have a family,
but if you have I declare you would sacrifice your
children — and all this for what ? Not to he richer,
nor to have more comforts or more respect, but
simply to call this diamond yours for a year or two
until you die, and now and again to open a safe and
look at it as one looks at a picture."

"It is true," replied Vandeleur. "I have hunted
most things, from men and women down to mosqui-
tos; I have dived for coral; I have followed both
whales and tigers; and a diamond is the tallest
quarry of the lot. It has beauty and worth; it alone
can properly reward the ardors of the chase. At
this moment, as your Highness may fancy, I am
upon the trail; I have a sure knack, a wide expe-
rience ; I know every stone of price in my brother's
collection as a shepherd knows his sheep; and I
wish I may die if I do not recover them every
one ! "

"Sir Thomas Vandeleur will have great cause to
thank you," said the Prince.

"I am not so sure," returned the Dictator, with a
laugh. "One of the VandeJeurs will. Thomas at
John — Peter or Paul — we are all apostles."

k

iz6 JVEIi' ARABIAN NIGHTS.

" I did not catch your observation," said the Prince
with some disgust.

And at the same moment the waiter informed Mr,
Vandeleur that his cab was at 'the door.

Mr. RoUes glanced at the clock, and saw that he
also must be moving; and the coincidence struck
him sharply and unpleasantly, for he desired to see
no more of the diamond hunter.

Much study having somewhat shaken the young
man's nerves, he was in the habit of traveling in the
most iuxurious manner; and for the present journey
he had taken a sofa in the sleeping carriage.

"You will be very comfortable," said the guard;
" there is no one in your compartment, and only one
old gentleman in the other end."

It was close upon the hour, and the tickets were
being examined, when Mr. Kolles beheld this other
feliow-passenger ushered by several porters into his
place; certainly, there was not another man in the
world whom he would not have preferred — for it
was old John Vandeleur, the ex-Dictator.

The sleeping carriages on the Great Northern line
were divided into thrpe comparlmenis — one at each
end for travelers, and one in the centre fitted with
the conveniences of a lavatory. A door running in
grooves separated each of the others from the lava-
tory; but as there were neither bolts nor locks, the
whole suite was practically common ground.

When Mr. RoUes had studied his position, he per-
ceived himself without defence. If the Dictator chose
to pay him a visit in the course of the night, he
could do no less than receive it; he had no means of
fortification, and lay open to attack as if he had been
lying in the fields. This situation caused him some
agony of mind. He recalled with alarm the boastful
statements of his fellow-traveler across the dining-
table, and the professions of immorality which he had
heard him offering to the disgusted Prince. Some
persons, he remembered to have read, are endowed

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND,

:27

with a singular quickness of perception for the neigh-
borhood of precious metals; through walls and even
at considerable distances they are said to divine the
presence of gold. Might it not be the same with
diamonds? he wondered; and if so, who was more
likely to enjoy this transcendental sense tlian the per-
son who gloried in the appellation of the Diamond
Hunter ? From such a man he recognized that he
had everything to fear, and longed eagerly for the arri-
val of the day.

In the meantime he neglected no precaution, con-
cealed his diamond in the most internal pocket of a
system of great coats, and devoutly recommended
himself to the care of Providence.

The train pursued its usual even and rapid course;
and nearly half the journey had been accomplished
before slumber began to triumph over uneasiness in
the breast of Mr. Rolles. For some time he resisted
its influence; but it grew upon him more and more,
and a little before York he was fain to stretch him-
self upon one of the couches and suffer his eyes to
close; and almost at the same instant consciousness
deserted the young clergyman. His last thought wa-i
of his terrifying neighbor.

When he awoke it was still pitch dark, except for the
flicker of the veiled lamp ; and the continual roaring
and oscillation testified to the unrelaxed velocity of the
train. He sat upright in a panic, for he had been tor-
mented by the most uneasy dreams ; it was some
seconds before he recovered his self-command ; and
even after he had resumed a recumbent attitude sleep
continued to flee him, and he lay awake with his brain
in a state of violent agitation, and his eyes fixed upon
the lavatory door. He pulled his clerical felt hat over
his brow still farther to shield him from the light ; and
he adopted the usual expedients, such as counting a
thousand or banishing thought, by which experienced
invalids are accustomed to woo the approach of sleep.
In the caae of Mr. Rolles they proved one and all

128 ffEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

vain ; he was harassed by a dozen different anxieties—
the old man in the other end of the carriage haunted
him in the most alarming shapes; and in whatever atti-
tude he chose to lie the diamond in his pocket occa-
sioned him a sensible physical distress. It burned, it
was too large, it bruised his ribs ; and there were infini-
tesimal fractions of a second in which he had half a
mind to throw it from the window.

While he was thus lying, a strange incident took
place.

The sliding-door into the lavatory stirred a little,
and then a little more, and was finally drawn back for
the space of about twenty inches. The lamp in the
lavatory was unshaded, and in the lighted aperture
thus disclosed, Mr. Rolles could see the head of Mr.
Vandeleur in an attitude of deep attention. He was
conscious that the gaze of the Dictator rested intently
on his own face ; and the instinct of self-preservation
moved him to hold his breath, to refrain from the least
movement, and keeping his eyes lowered, to watch his
visitor from underneath the lashes. After about a
moment, the head was withdrawn and the door of the
lavatory replaced.

The Dictator had not come to attack, but to observe;
his action was not that of a man threatening another,
but that of a man who was himself threatened; if Mr.
Rolles was afraid of him, it ap[)e.ired that he, in his
turn, was not quite easy on the score of Mr. Rolles. He
had come, it would seem, to make sure that his only
fellow-traveler was asleep ; and, when satisfied on that
point, he had at once withdrawn.

The clergyman leaped to his feet. The extreme of
terror had given place to a reaction of foolhardy daring.
He reflected that the rattle of the flying train concealed
all other sounds, and determined, come what might, to
return the visit he had just received. Divesting him-
self of his cloak, which might have interfered with the
freedom of his action, he entered the lavatory aifd
paused to listen. As he had expected, there was noth-

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND. 129

ing to be heard above the roar of the train's progress ;
and laying his hand on the door at the farther side, he
proceeded cautiously to draw it back for about six
inches. Then he stopped, and could not contain an
ejaculation of surprise.

John Vandeleur wore a fur traveling cap with lap-
pets to protect his ears ; and this may have combined
with the sound of the express to keep him in ignorance
of what was going forward. It is certain, at least,
that" he did not raise his head, but continued without
interruption to pursue his strange employment. Between
his feet stood an open hat-box; in one hand he held the
sleeve of his sealskin greatcoat; in the other a formid-
able knife, with which he bad just sHt up the lining
of the sleeve. Mr. Rolles had read of persons carry-
ing money in a belt ; and as he had no acquaintance
with any but cricket-belts, he had never been able
rightly to conceive how this was managed. But here
was a stranger thing before his eyes ; for John Vande-
leur, it appeared, carried diamonds in the lining of his
sleeve ; and even as the young clergj'man gazed, he
could see one glittering brilliant drop after another into
the hat-box.

He stood riveted to the spot, following this unusual
business with his eyes. The diamonds were, for the
most part, small, and not easily distinguishable either
in shape or fire. Suddenly the Dictator appeared to
find a difficulty; he employed both hands and stooped
over his task; but it was not until after considerable
manceuvring that he extricated a large tiara of dia-
monds from the hning, and held it up for some seconds'
examination before he placed it with the others in the
hat-box. The tiara was a ray of light to Mr. Rolles ;
he immediately recognized it for a part of the treasure
stolen from Harry Hartley by the loiterer. There was
no room for mistake ; it was exactly as the detective
had described it ; there were the ruby stars, with a
great emerald in the centre; there were the interlacing
crescents ; and there were the pear-shaped pendants,

130

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

each a single stone, which gave a special value to I
Vandeleur's tiara.

Mr, Rolles was hugely relieved. The Dictator was
as deeply in the affair as he was; neither could tell
tales upon the other. In the first glow of happiness,
the clergyman suffered a deep sigh to escape him;
and as his bosom had become choked and his throat
dry during his previous suspense, the sigh was followed
by a cough.

Mr. Vandeleur looked up; his face contracted with
the blackest and most deadly passion; his eyes opened
widely, and his under jaw dropped in an astonishment
that was upon the brink of fury. By an instinctive
movement he had covered the hat-box with the coat.
For half a minute the two men stared upon each other
in silence. It was not a long interval, but it sufficed
for Mr. Rolles; he was one of those who think swiftly
on dangerous occasions; he decided on a course of
action of a singularly daring nature; and although he
fell he was setting his life upon the hazard, he was the
first to break silence.

" I beg your pardon," said he.

The Dictator shivered slightly, and when he spoke
his voice was hoarse.

" What do you want here ? " he asked.

" I take a particular interest in diamonds," replied
Mr. Rolles, with an air of perfect self-possession.
" Two connoisseurs should be acquainted. I have here
a trifle of my own which may perhaps serve for an
introduction."

And so saying, he quietly took the case from his
pocket, showed the Rajah's Diamond to the Dictator
for an instant, and replaced it in security.

" It was once your brother's," he added.

7ohn Vandeleur continued to regard him with a look
of -almost painful amazement; but he neither spoke
nor moved.

" I was pleased to observe," resumed the young man,
"that we have gems from the same collection."

THE RAyAH'S DIAMOND.

J3I

The Dictator's surprise overpowered him.

"I beg your pardon," he said; "I begin to perceive
that I am growing old ! I am positively not prepared
for little incidents like this. But set my mind at rest
upon one point: do my eyes deceive me, or are you
indeed a parson ? "

" I am in holy orders," answered Mr. Rolles.

"Well," cried the other, "as long as I live I will
never hear another word against the cloth ! "

"You flatter me," said Mr. Rolles.

"Pardon me," replied Vandeleur; "pardon me,
young man. Vou are no coward, but it still remains
to be seen whether you are not the worst of fools.
Perhaps," he continued, leaning back upon his seat,
" perhaps you would oblige me with a few particulars.
I must suppose you had some object in the stupefying
impudence of your proceedingSj and I confess I have
a curiosity to know it."

" It is very simple," replied the clergyman; " it pro-
ceeds from my great inexperience of hfe."

" I shall be glad to be persuaded," answered Van-
deleur.

Whereupon Mr. Rolles told him the whole story of
his connection with the Rajah's Diamond, from the
time he found it in Raebum's garden to the time when
he left London in the Flying Scotchman. He added
a brief sketch of his feelings and thoughts during the
journey, and concluded in these words; —

" When I recognized the tiara I knew we were in
the same attitude towards Society, and this inspired
me with a hope, which I trust you will say was not ill-
founded, that you might become in some sense my
partner in the difficulties and, of course, the profits of
my situation. To one of your special knowledge and
obviously great experience the negotiation of the dia-
mond would give but little trouble, while to me it was
a matter of impossibihty. On the other part, I judged
that I might lose nearly as much by cutting the dia-
mond, and that not improbably with an iinskilful hand,

NE W ARABIAN NIGHTS.

as might enable me to pay you with proper generosity
for your assistance. The subject was a delicate one
to broach; and perhaps I fell short in delicacy. But
I must ask you to remember that for me the situation
was a new one, and I was entirely unacquainted with
the etiquette in use. I believe without vanity that I
could have married or baptized you in a very accepta-
ble manner; but every man has his own aptitudes, and
this sort of bargain was not among the list of my
accomplishments."

"I do not wish to flatter you," replied Vandeleur;
" but upon my word, you have an unusual disposition
for a life of crime. You have more accomplishments
than you imagine; and though I have encountered a
number of rogues in different quarters of the world, I
never met with one so unblushing as yourself. Cheer
up, Mr. Rolles, you are in the right profession at last !
As for helping you, you may command me as you will.
I have only a day's business in Edinburgh on a little
matter for my brother; and once that is concluded, I
return to Paris, where I usually reside. If you please,
you may accompany me thither. And before the end
of a month I believe I shall have brought your little
business to a satisfactory conclusion."

{^At this point, contrary to all the canons of his art, our
Arabian Author breaks off the Story of the Young
Man in Holy Orders, / regret and condemn such
prattices; but I must follow my original, and refer the
reader for the conclusion of Mr. Jlolles's adventures to
the next number of the cycle, the Story of thb Ho usk

WITH THE Gr£EN BlINDS.)

THE STORY OF THE HOUSE WITH THE
GREEN BLINDS.

Francis Scrymgeour, a clerk in the Bank of Scot-
land at Edinburgh, had attained the age of twenty-five
in a sphere of quiet, creditable, and domestic life.
His mother died while he was young; but his father, a
man of sense and probity, had given him an excellent
education at school, and brought him up at home to
orderly and frugal habits. Francis, who was of a
docile and affectionate disposition, profited by these
advantages with zeal, and devoted himself heart and
soul to his employment. A walk upon Saturday after-
noon, an occasional dinner with members of his family,
and a yearly tour of a fortnight in the Highlands or
even on the continent of Europe, were his principal
distractions, and he grew rapidly in favor with his
superiors, and enjoyed already a salary of nearly two
hundreds pounds a year, with the prospect of an ulti-
mate advance to almost double that amount. Few
young men were more contented, few more willing and
laborious than Francis Scrymgeour. Sometimes at
night, when he had read the daily paper, he would play
upon the flute to amuse his father, for whose qualities
he entertained a great respect.

One day he received a note from a well-known firm

of Writers to the Signet, requesting the favor of an

immediate interview with him. The latter was marked

"Private and Confidential," and had been addressed

I to him at the bank, instead of at home — two unusual

\ circumstances which made him obey the summons with

i the more alacrity. The senior member of the firm, a

I man of much austerity of manner, made him gravely

I welcome, requested him to take a seat, and proceeded

I >33

'34

l^BW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

to explain the matter in hand in the picked express?
of a veteran man of business. A person, who must
remain nameless, but of whom the lawyer had every
reason to think well — a man, in short, of some station
in the country — desired to make Francis an annual
allowance of five hundred pounds. The capital was to
be placed under the control of the lawyer's firm and
two trustees who must also remain anonymous. There
were conditions annexed to this liberality, but- he was
of opinion thathis new client would find nothing either
excessive or dishonorable in the terms; and he repealed
these two words with emphasis, as though he desired to
commit himself to nothing more.

Francis asked their nature.

"The conditions," said the Writer to the Signet,
"are, as I have twice remarked, neither dishonorable
nor excessive. At the same time I cannot conceal from
you that they are most unusual. Indeed, the whole
case is very much out of our way; and I should cer-
tainly have refused it had it not been for the reputa-
tion of the gentleman who entrusted it to my care, and,
let me add, Mr. Scrymgeoiir, the interest I have been
led to take in yourself by many complimentary and, I
have no doubt, well-deserved reports."

Francis entreated him to be more specific,

"You connot picture my uneasiness as to these con-
ditions," he said.

" They are two," replied the lawyer, " only two; and
the sum, as you will remember, is five hundred a year
— and unburthened, I forgot to add, unburdened."

And the lawyer raised his eyebrows at hira with
solemn gusto.

" The first," he resumed, " is of remarkable simpli-
city. You must be in Paris by the afternoon of Sun-
day, the 15th; there you v/ill find, at the box-office of
the Comddie Francaise, a ticket for admission taken in
your name and waiting you. You are requested to sit
out the whole performance in the seat provided, and
that is all."

THE KAJAN-S DIAMOND.

ns

"I should certainly have preferred a week-day,
replied Francis. " But, after all, once in a way "

"And in Paris, my dear sir," added the lawyer,
soothingly. " I believe I am something of a precisian
myself, but upon such a consideration, and in Paris,
I should not hesitate an instant."

And the pair laughed pleasantly together.

" The other is of more importance," continued the
Writer to the Signet. " It regards your marriage. My
client, taking a deep interest in }-our welfare, desires
to advise you absolutely in the choice of a wife.
Absolutely, you understand," he repeated.

" Let us be more explicit, if you please," returned
Francis. " Am I to marry anyone, maid or widow,
black or white, whom this invisible person chooses to
propose ? "

' I was to assure you that suitability of age and
position should be a principle with your benefactor,"
replied the lawyer. " As to race, I confess the diffi-
culty had not occurred to me, and I failed to inquire;
but if you like I will make a note of it at once, and
advise you on the earliest opportunity."

" Sir," said Francis, " it remains to be seen whether
this whole affair is not a most unworthy fraud. The
circumstances are inexplicable — -I had almost said
incredible; and until I see a little more dayhght, and
some plausible motive, I confess I should be very sorry
to put a hand to the transaction. I appeal to you in
this difficulty for information. I must learn what is at
the bottom of it all. If you do not know, cannot
guess, or are not at liberty to tell me, I shall take my
hat and go back to my bank as I came."

" I do not know," answered the lawyer, " but 1 have
an excellent guess. Your father, and no one else, is
at the root of this apparently unnatural business."

"My father!" cried Francis, in extreme disdain.
"Worthy man, I know every thought of his mind,
every penny of his fortune ! "

'You misinterpret my words," said the lawyer. "I

b.

136

NEIV ARABIAN NIGHTS.

do not refer to Mr. Scrymgeour, senior; for he i;
your father. When he and his wife came to Edinburgh,
you were already nearly one year old, and you had not
yet been three months in their care. The secret has
been well kept; but such is the fact. Your father is
unknown, and I say again that I believe him to be the
original of the offers I am charged at present to trans-
mit to you."

It would be impossible to exaggerate the astonish-
ment of Francis Scrymgeour at this unexpected infor-
mation. He pleaded this confusion to the Ia\vyer,

" Sir," said he, " after a piece of news so startling,
you must grant me some hours for thought. You shall
know this evening what conclusion I have reached."

The lawyer commended his prudence; and Francis,
excusing himself upon some pretext at the bank, took
a long walk into the country, and fully considered the
different steps and aspects of the case. A pleasant
sense of his own importance rendered him the more
deliberate; but the issue was from the first not doubt-
ful. His whole carnal man leaned irresistibly towards
the five hundred a year, and the strange conditions
with which it was burdened; he discovered in his heart
an invincible repugnance to the name of Scrymgeour,
which he bad never hitherto disliked; he began to
despise the narrow and unromantic interest of his
former life; and when once his mind was fairly made
up, he walked with anew feeling of strength and freedom,
and nourished himself with the gayest anticipations.

He said but a word to the lawyer, and immediately
received a check for two quarters' arrears; for the
allowance was ante-dated from the first of January.
With this in his pocket, he walked home. The flat in
Scotland Street looked mean in his eyes ; his nostrils,
for the first time, rebelled against the odor of broth;
and he observed little defects of manner in his adop-
tive father which filled him with surprise and almost
with disgust. The next day, he determined, shoidil
see him on his way to Paris.

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND.

137

In that city, where he arrived long before the
appointed date, he put up at a modest hotel frequented
by English and Italians, and devoted himself to
improvement in the French tongiie; for this purpose
he had a master twice a week, entered into conversa-
tion with loiterers in the Champs Elys^esj and nightly
frequented the theatre. He had his whole toilette
fashionably renewed; and was shaved and had his hair
dressed every morning by a barber in a neighboring
street. This gave him something of a foreign air, and
seemed to wipe off the reproach of Iiis past years.

At length, on the Saturday afternoon, he betook
himself to the box-office of the theatre in the Rue
Richelieu. No sooner had he mentioned his name
than the clerk produced the order in an envelope of
which the address was scarcely dry.

" It has been taken this moment," said the clerk.

"Indeed!" said Francis. "May I ask what the
gentleman was like ?"

" Your friend is easy to describe," replied the
official. " He is old and strong and beautiful, with
white hair and a sabre-cut across his face. You can-
not fail to recognize so marked a person."

" No, indeed," returned Francis ; " and I thank you
for your politeness."

"He cannot yet be far distant," added the clerk.
" If you make haste you might siill overtake him."

Francis did not wait to be twice told ; he ran pre-
cipitately from the theatre into the middle of the street
and looked in all directions. More than one white-
haired man was within sight ; but though he overtook
each of them in succession, all wanted the sabre-cuL
For nearly half -an- hour he tried one street after
another in the neighborhood, until at length, recogniz-
ing the folly of continued search, he started on a walk
I to compose his agitated feelings ; for this proximity of
I an encounter with him to whom he could not doubt
I he owed the day had profoundly moved the young
I man.

IjS JV£ IC ARABIA!^ NIGHTS.

It chanced that his way lay up the Rue Drouot and

thence up the Rue des Martyrs ; and chance, in this
case, served him better than all the forethought in the
world. For on the outer boulevard he saw two men
in earnest colloquy upon a seat. One was dark, young,
and handsome, secularly dressed, but with an indelible
clerical stamp ; the other answered in every particular
to the description given him by the clerk. Francis
felt his heart beat high in bis bosom ; he knew he was
now about to hear the voice of his father ; and making
a wide circuit, he noiselessly took his place behind the
couple in question, who were too much interested in
their talk to observe much else. As Francis had
expected, the conversation was conducted in the Eng-
lish language.

"Your suspicions begin to annoy me, Rollesj" said
the older man. " I tell you I am doing my utmost ;
a. man cannot lay his hand on millions in a moment.
Have I not taken you up, a mere stranger, out of
pure good will? Are you not living largely on my
bounty ?"

" On your advances, Mr. Vandeleur," corrected the
other.

" Advances, if you choose ; and interest instead of
good- will, if you prefer it," returned Vandeleur, angrily.
" I am not here to pick expressions. Business is busi-
ness ; and your business, let me remind you, is too
muddy for such airs. Trust me, or leave me alone and
find someone else ; but let us have an end, for God's
sake, of your jeremiads."

"I am beginning to learn the world," replied the
other, '■ and I see that you have every reason to play
me false, and not one to deal honestly. I am not here
to pick expressions either ; you wish the diamond for
yourself : you know you do — you dare not deny it
Have you not already forged my name, and searched
my lodging in my absence ? I understand the cause
of your delays ; you are lying in wait ; you are the
diamond-hunter, forsooth ; and sooner or later, by fair

THE RAJAirs DIAMOND.

'39

means or foul, you'll lay your hands upon it. I tel!
you, it must stop ; push me much further and I promise
you a surprise."

" It does not become you to use threats," returned
Vandeleur. " Two can play at that. My brother is
here in Paris ; the police are on the alert ; and if you
persist in wearying me with your caterwauling, I will
arrange a little astonishment for you, Mr. RoUes. But
mine shall be once and for all. Do you understand, or
would you prefer me to tell ifyou in Hebrew ? There
is an end to all things, aud you have come to the end
of my patience. Tuesday, at seven ; not a day, not
an hour sooner, not the least part of a second, if it
were to save your life. And if you do not choose to
wait, you may go to the bottomless pit for me, and wel-

And so saying, the Dictator arose from the bench,
and marchecl off in the direction of Montmartre, shak-
ing his head and swinging his cane with a most furious
air ; while his companion remained where he was, in
an attitude of great dejection.

Francis was at the pitch of surprise and horror ; his
sentiments had been shocked to the last degree ; the
hopeful tenderness with which he had taken his place
upon the bench was transformed into repulsion and
despair ; old Mr. Scrymgeour, he reflected, was a far
more kindly and creditable parent than this dangerous
and violent intriguer ; but he retained his presence of
mind, and suffered not a moment to elapse before he
was on the trail of the Dictator.

That gentleman's fury carried him forward at abrisk
pace, and he was so completely occupied in his angry
thoughts that he never so much as cast a look behind
him till he reached his own door.

His house stood high up in the Rue Lepic, command-
ing a view of all Paris and enjoying the pure air of the
heights. It was two stories high, with green bhnds and
shutters ; and all the windows looking on the street
were hermetically closed. Tops of trees showed over the

140

NEfV ARABIAN NIGHTS.\

high garden wall, and the wall was ptote
chevaux-de-frise. The Dictator paused a moment while
he searched his pocket for a key ; and then, opening
a gate, disappeared within the enclosure.

Francis looked about him ; the neighborhood was
very lonely ; the house isolated in its garden. It
seemed as if his observation must here come to an
abrupt end. A second glance, however, showed hira a
tall house next door presenting a gable to the garden,
and in this gable a single window. He passed to the
front and saw a ticket offering unfurnished lodgings
by the month ; and, on inquiry, the room which com-
majided the Dictator's garden proved to be one of
those to let. Francis did not hesitate a moment ; he
took the room, paid an advance upon the rent, and
returned to his hotel to seek his baggage.

The old man with the sabre-cut might or might not
be his father ; he might or he might not be on the
true scent ; but he was certainly on the edge of an
exciting mystery, and he promised himself that he
would not relax his observation until he had got to the
bottom of the secret.

From the window of his new apartment Francis
Scrymgeour commanded a complete view into the gar
den of the house with the green blinds. Immediately
below him a very comely chestnut with wide boughs
sheltered a pair of rustic tables where people might
dine in the height of summer. On all sides save one
a dense vegetation concealed the soil : but there,
between the tables and the house, he saw a patch of
gravel walk leading from the veranda to the garden-
gate- Studying the places from between the boards
of the Venetian shutter, which he durst not open for
fear of attracting attention, Francis observed but little
to indicate the manners of the inhabitants, and that
little argued no more than a close reserve and a taste
for solitude. The garden was conventual, the house
had the air of a prison. The green blinds were all
drawn down upon the outside ; the door into the ver*

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND. 141

anda was closed ; the garden, as far as he could see it,
was left entirely to itself in the evening sunshine. A
modest curl of smoke from a single chimney alone tes-
tified to the presence of living people.

In order that he might not be entirely idle, and to
give a certain color to his waj- of life, Francis had pur-
chased Euclid's Geometry in French, which he set
himself to copy and translate on the top of his port-
manteau and, seated on the floor against the wall ; for
he was equally without chair or table. From time to
time he would rise and cast a glance into the enclosure
of the house with the green blinds ; but the windows
remained obstinately closed and the garden empty.

Only late in the evening did anything occur to
reward his continued attention. Between nine and
ten the sharp tinkle of a bell aroused him from a fit of
dozing ; and he sprang to his observatory in time to
hear an important noise of locks being opened and
bars removed, and to see Mr. Vandeleur, carrying a
lantern and clothed in a flowing robe of black velvet
with a skull-cap to match, issue from under the veranda
and proceed leisurely toward the garden-gate. The
sound of bolts and bars was then repeated ; and a
moment after Francis perceived the Dictator escorting
into the house, in the mobile hght of the lantern, an
individual of the lowest and most despicable appearance.

Half-an-hour afterward the visitor was reconducted
to the street ; and Mr. Vandeleur, setting his light
upon one of the rustic tables, finished a cigar with
great deliberation under the foliage of the chestnut.
Francis, peering through a clear space among the
leaves, was able to follow his gestures as he threw away
the ash or enjoyed a copious inhalation ; and beheld
a cloud upon the old man's brow and a forcible action
of the lips, which testified to some deep and probably
painful train of thought. The cigar was already
almost at an end, when the voice of a young girl was
heard suddenly crying the hour from the interior of
the house.

u> A'£ir AKABiAy^ A-iGirrs.

" In a raoco^it,** replied Jobn Vandcleor.

And, with that, be tbrcv away thesmmp and, taking
op the laatem. saSitA awaj uoder the veranda for the
ni^it. As sooo as the door was dosed, absolute dark-
ness feU upon the house ; Frntds mi^t try his eye-
si^t as much as he pleased, he cotdd not detect so
much as a single chink of light below a blind ; and he
cantJoded, with great good sense, that the bed cham-
bers were all upon the other side.

Early the nest morning (for he was early awake aftet
an uncomfortable night upon the floor), he saw cause
to adopt a different explanation. The blinds rose, one
«fter another, by means of a spring in the interior, and
disclosed steel shutters such as we see on the front of
shops ; these in their turn were rolled up by a similar
contrivance ; and for the space of about an hour, the
chambers were left open to the morning air. At the
end of that time Mr. Vandeleur, with his own hand,
once more closed die shutters and replaced the blinds
from within.

While Francis was still marvelling at these precau-
tions, the door op-^ned aiid a young girl came forth to
lortk about her in the garden. It was not two minutes
before she re-entered the house, but even in that short
time he saw enough to convince him that she possessed
the most unusual attractions. His curiosity was not
■ only highly excited by this incident, but his spirits
were improved to a still more notable degree. The
alarming manners and more than equivocal life of his
father ceased from that moment to prey upon his
mind ; from that moment he embraced his new family
with ardor ; and whether the young lady should prove
his sister or his wife, he felt convinced she was an
angel in disguise. So much was this the case that he
was seized with a sudden horror when he reflected
how little he really knew, and how possible it was that
he followed the wrong person when he followed Mr.
Vandeleur.

The porter, whom he consulted, could afford him

THE RAJAirS DIAMOND.

143

little information; but, such as it was, it had a myste-
rious and questionable sound. The person next door
was an English gentleman of extraordinary wealth, and
proportionately eccentric in his tastes and habits. He
possessed great collections, which he kept in the house
beside him; and it was to protect these that he had
fitted the place with steel shutters, elaborate fastenings
and cluvavx-de-frise along the garden wall. He lived
much alone, in spile of some strange visitors with
whom, it seemed, he bad business to transact; and
there was no one in the house except Mademoiselle

"Is Mademoiselle his daughter ?" inquired Francis.

"Certainly," replied the porter. " Mademoiselle is
the daughter of the house; and strange it is to see how
she is made lo work. For all his riches, it is she who
goes to market; and every day in the week you may see
her going by with a basket on her arm."

" And the collections ? " asked the other.

" Sir," said the man, " they are immensely valuable.
More I cannot tell you. Since M. de Vandeleur's
arrival no one in the quarter has so much as passed
the door."

" Suppose not," returned Francis, " you must surely
have some notion what these famous galleries contain.
Is it pictures, silks, statues, jewels, or what ? "

"My faith, sir," said the fellow with a shrug, "it
might be carrots, and still I could not tell you. How
should I know? The house is kept like a garrison, as
you perceive."

And then as Francis was returning disappointed to
his room, the porter called him back.

"I have just remembered, sir," said he. "M. de
Vandeleur has been in all parts of the world, and I
once heard the old woman declare that he had brought
many diamonds back with him. If that be the truth,
there must be a fine show behind those shutters."

By an early hour on Sunday Francis was in his place
at the theatre. The seat which had been taken for

144 MEW ARABIAN X1G3TS.

fain was oalf two or three Bmabets from the left-b
nlc, aad &xtxa\y oppaatc one of the lower boxes. As
the sest had been spedaOf dosen there was doubtless
something to be kanied from its position; and he
judged bf aa instinct that die box upon his right was,
in some nvf at other, to be connecto] with the drama
in which be ignorandj [dayed a part. Indeed it was
so situated tl^ its occupants could safely observe him
from beginning to end of the juece, if they were so
minded; while, piofiting bj the depth, they could
screen themselves sufficimtly well from any counter-
examination on his side. He promised himself not lo
leave it for a moment out of sight; and whilst he
scanned the rest of the theatre, or made a show of
attending to the business of the stage, he always kept
a comer of an eye upon the empty box.

The second act had been some lime in progress, and
was even drawing towards a close, when the door
opened and two persons entered and ensconced them-
selves in the darkest of the shade. Francis could
hardly control his eraolion. It was Mr. Vandeleur and
his daughter. The blood came and went in his arteries
and veins with stunning acdvity; his ears sang; his
head turned. He dared not look lest he should awake
suspicion; his play-bill, which he kept reading from
end to end and over and over again, turned from white
to red before his eyes; and when he cast a glance upon
the stage, it seemed incalculably far away, and he
found the voices and gestures of the actors to the lasf
degree impertinent and absurd.

From time to time he risked a momentary look in
the direction which principally arrested him; and once
at least he felt certain that his eyes encountered those
of the young girl, A shock passed over his body, and
he saw all the colors of the rainbow. What would he
not have given to overhear what passed between the
Vandeleurs? What would he not have given for the
courage to take up his opera-glass and steadily inspect
their attitude and expression ? There, for aught he

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND.

«4S

Ttnew, his whole life was being decided — and he not
able to interfere, not able even to follow the debate,
but condemned to sit and suffer where he was, in
impotent anxiety.

At last the act came to an end. The curtain fell,
and the people around him began to leave their places
for the interval. It was only natural that he should
follow their example ; and if he did so, it was not only
natural but necessary that he should pass immediately
in front of the box in question. Summoning all his
courage, but keeping his eyes lowered, Francis drew
near the spot. His progress was slow, for the old gen-
tleman before him moved with incredible deliberation,
wheezing as he went. What was he to do ? Should he
address the Vandeleurs by name as he went by ?
Should he take the flower from his button-hole and
throw it into the box ? Should he raise his face and
direct one long and affectionate look upon the lady who
was either his sister or his betrothed ? As he found
himself thus struggling among so many alternatives, he
had a vision of his old equable existence in the bank,
and was assailed by a thought of regret for the past.

By this lime he had arrived directly opposite the
box ; and although he was still undetermined what to
do or whether to do anything, he turned his head and
lifted his eyes. No sooner had he done so than he
uttered a cry of disappointment and remained rooted
to the spot. The box was empty. During his slow
advance Mr. Vandeleur and his daughter had quietly
slipped away.

A polite person in his rear reminded him that he was
stopping the path ; and he moved on again with
mechanical footsteps, and suffered the crowd to carry
him unresisting out of the theatre. Once in the street,
the pressure ceasing, he came to a halt, and the cool
night air speedily restored him to the possession of his
faculties. He was surprised to find that his head
ached violently, and that he remembered not one word
of the two acts which he had witnessed. As the excite-

NEW ARAB/AN NIGHTS.

ment wore away, it was succeeded by an overweening
appetite for sleep, and he hailed a cab and drove to
his lodging in a state of extreme exhaustion and some
disgust of life.

Next morning he lay in wait for Miss Vandeleur on
her road to market, and by eight o'clock beheld her
stepping down a lane. She was simply, and even
poorly, attired ; but in the carriage of her head and
body there was something flexible and noble that would
have lent distinction to the meanest toilette. Even
her basket, so aptly did she carry it, became her like
an ornament. It seemed to Francis, as he slipped into
a doorway, that the sunshine followed and the shadows
fled before her as she walked ; and he was conscious,
for the first time, of a bird singing in a cage above the
lane.

He suffered her to pass the doorway, and then,
coming forth once more, addressed her by name from
behind.

" Miss Vandeleur," said he.

She turned and, when she saw who he was, became
deadly pale.

'■ Pardon me," he continued ; " Heaven knows I had
no will to startle you ; and, indeed, there should be
nothing startling in the presence of one who wishes
you so well as I do. And, believe me, I am acting
rather from necessity than choice. We have many
things in common, and I am sadly in the dark. There
is much that I should be doing, and my hands are tied.
I do not know even what to feel, nor who are my
friends and enemies."

She found her voice with an effort.

" I do not know who you are," she said.

" Ah, yes ! Miss Vandeleur, you do," returned
Francis ; " better than I do myself. Indeed it is on
that, above all, that I seek light. Tell me what you
know," he pleaded. " Tell me who I am, who you are,
and how our destinies are intermixed. Give me a little
help with my life, Miss Vandeleur — only a word or two

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND.

147

to guide me, only the nc

and I shall be grateful a

" I will not attempt to deceive you," she replied. "I
know who you are, but I am not at liberty to say."

" Tell me, at least, that you have forgiven my pre-
sumption, and I shall wait with all the patience I have,"
he said. "If I am not to know, 1 must do without.
It is cruel, but I can bear more upon a push. Only do
not add to my troubles the thought that I have made
an enemy of you."

" Vou did only what was natural," she said, " and I
have nothing to forgive you. Farewell."

" Is it to \)Z farewell?" he asked.

"Nay, that I do not know myself," she answered.
"Farewell for the present, if you like."

And with these words she was gone.

Francis returned to his lodging in a state of consid-
erable commotion of mind. He made the most trifling
progress with his Euclid for that forenoon, and was
more often at the window than at his improvised
writing-table. But beyond seeing the return of Miss
Vandeleur, and the meetingbetweenherand her father,
who was smoking a Trichinopoli cigar in the verandah,
there was nothing notable in the neighborhood of the
house with the green blinds before the time of the mid-
day meal. The young man hastily allayed his appetite
in a neighboring restaurant, and returned with the
speed of unallaycd curiosity to the house in the Rue
Lepic. A mounted servant was leading a saddle-
horse to and fro before the garden wall ; and the por-
ter of Francis's lodging was smoking a pipe against the
door-post, absorbed in contemplation of the livery and
the steeds.

" Look! " he cried to the young man, " what fine
cattle! what an elegant costume! They belong to the
brother of M. de Vandeleur, who is now within upon
a visit. He is a great man, a general, in your country;
and you doubtless know him well by reputation."

"I confess," returned Francis, "that I have never

148 NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

heard of General Vandeleur before. We have n
ofBcers of that grade, and my pursuits have been exclu-
sively civil, *'

" It is he," replied the porter, " who lost the great
diamond of the Indies- Of that at least you must
have read often in the papers."

As soon as Francis could disengage himself from
the porter he ran up stairs and hurried to the window.
Immediately below the clear space in the chestnut
leaves, the two gentlemen were seated in conversation
over a cigar. The General, a red, mi htary- looking
man, offered some traces of a family resemblance to
his brother; he had something of the same features,
something, although very little, of the same free and
powerful carriage; but he was older, smaller, and more
common in air; his likeness was that of a caricature,
and he seemed altogether a poor and debile being by
the side of the Dictator.

They spoke in tones so low, leaning over the table
with every appearance of interest, that Francis could
catch no more than a word or two on an occasioa
For as little as he heard, he was convinced that the
conversation turned upon himself and his own career;
several times the name of Scrymgeour reached his
ear, for it was easy to distinguish, and still more fre-
quently he fancied he could distinguish the name
Francis.

At length the General, as if in a hot anger, broke
forth into several violent exclamations.

" Francis Vandeleur! " he cried, accentuating the
last word. " Francis Vandeleur, I tell you."

The Dictator made a movement of his whole body,
half affirmative, half contemptuous, but his answer
was inaudible to the young man.

Was he the Francis Vandeleur in question ? he won-
dered. Were they discussing the name under which
he was to be married ? Or was the whole affair a
dream and a delusion of his own conceit and self-
absorption ?

THE RAJAH S DIAi^fOND.

'49

After another interval of inaudible talk, dissension
seemed again to arise between the couple underneath
the chestnut, and again the General raised his voice
angrily so as to be audible to Francis.

" My wife ? " he cried. " I have done with my wife
for good. I will not hear her name. I am sick of her
very name."

And he swore aloud and beat the table with his fist.

The Dictator appeared, by his gestures, to pacify
him after a paternal fashion; and a little after he con-
ducted him to the garden-gate. The pair shook hands
affectionately enough; but as soon- as the door had
closed behind his visitor, John Vandeleur fell into a fit
of laughter which sounded unkindly and even devilish
in the ears of Francis Scrym);eour.

So another day had passed, and httle more learnt. But
the young man remembered that the morrow was
Tuesday, and promised himself some curious discover-
ies; all might be well, or all might be ill; he was sure,
at least, to glean some curious information, and, per-
haps, by good luck, get at the heart of the mystery
which surrounded his father and his family.

As the hour of the dinner drew near many prepar-
ations were made in the garden of the house with the
green blinds. The table which was partly visible to
Francis through the chestnut leaves was destined to
serve as a sideboard, and carried relays of plates and
the materials for salad: the other, which was almost
entirely concealed, had been set apart for the diners,
and Francis could catch glimpses of white cloth and
silver plate.

Mr. RoUes arrived, punctual to the minute; he
looked like a man upon his guard, and spoke low and
sparingly. The Dictator, on the other hand, appeared
to enjoy an unusual flow of spirits; his laugh, which
was youthful and pleasant to hear, sounded frequently
from the garden; by the modulation and the changes
of his voice it was obvious that he told many droll
stories and imitated the accents of a variety of differ-

150 NEW ARABIAN mCHTS.

ent nations; and before he and the young
had finished their vermouth all feeling of distrust was
at an end, and they were talking together like a pair of
school companions.

At length Miss Vandeleur made her appearance,
carrying the soup-tureen. Mr. Rolles ran to offer her
assistance, which she laughingly refused; and there
was an interchange of pleasantries among the trio
which seemed to have reference to this primitive man-
ner of waiting by one of the company.

" One is more at one's ease," Mr. Vandeleur was
heard to declare.

Next moment they were all three in their places,
and Francis could see as little as he could hear of
what passed; but the dinner seemed to go merrily;
there was a perpetual babble of voices and sound of
knives and forks below the chestnut ; and Francis,
who had no more than a roll to gnaw, was affected
with envy by the comfort and deliberation of the meab
The party lingered over one dish after another, and then
over a delicate dessert, with a bottle of old wine care-
fully uncorked by the hand of the Dictator himself.
As it began to grow dark a lamp was set upon the
table and a couple of candles on the sideboard ; for
the night was perfectly pure, starry, and windless.
Light overflowed besides from the door and window in
the verandah, so that the garden was fairly illuminated
and the leaves twinkled in the darkness.

For perhaps the tenth time Miss Vandeleur entered
the house ; and on this occasion she returned with the
coffee tray, which she placed upon the sideboard. At
the same moment her father rose from his seat.

"The coffee is my province," Francis heard him

And next moment he saw his supposed father stand-
ing by the sideboard in the light of the candles.

Talking over his shoulder all the while, Mr. Van-
deleur poured out two cups of the brown stimulant,
and then, by a rapid act of prestidigitation, emptied the

THE RA-JAfi-S DIAMOND. 151

contents of a tiny phial into the smaller one of the two.
The thing was so swiftly done that even Francis, who
looked straight into his face, had hardly time to per-
ceive the movement before it was completed. And
next instant, and still laughing, Mr. Vandeleur had
turned again towards the table with a cup in either
hand.

" We have done with this," said he, " we may expect
OUT famous Hebrew."

It would be impossible to depict the confusion and
distress of Francis Scrymgeour. He saw fou! play
going forward before his eyes, and he felt bound to
interfere, but knew not how. It miglit be a mere
pleasantry, and then how should he look if he were to
offer an unnecessary warning ? Or again, if it were
serious, the criminal might be his own father, and then
how should he not lament if he were to bring ruin on
the author of his days ? For the first time he became
conscious of his own position as a spy. To wait
inactive at such a juncture and with such a conflict of
sentiments in his bosom was to suffer the most acute
torture ; he clung to the bars of the shutters, his heart
beat fast and with irregularity, and he felt a strong
sweat break forth upon his body.

Several minutes passed.

He seemed to perceive the conversation die away
and grow less and less in vivacity and volume ; but
still no sign of any alarming or even notable event.

Suddenly the ring of a glass breaking was followed
by a faint and dull sound, as of a person who should
have fallen forward with his head upon the table. At
the same moment a piercing scream rose from the
garden.

" What have you done ? " cried Miss Vandeleur.
"He is dead !"

The Dictator replied in a violent whisper, so strong
and sibilant that every word was audible to the watcher
at the window.

"Silence!" said Mr. Vandeleur; "the man is as

IS"

J^EW ARABIAN^ NIGHTS.

well Its I am. Take him by the heels whilst I cany
him by the shoulders."

Francis heard Miss Vandeleur break forth into a
passion of tears.

" Do you hear what I say ? " resumed the Dictator,
in the same tones. " Or do you wish to quarrel with
me ? I give you your choice. Miss Vandeleur."

There was another pause, and the Dictator spoke

"Take that man by the heels," he said. "I must
have him brought into the house. If I were a little
younger, I could help myself against the world. But
now that years and dangers are upon rae and my
hands are weakened, I must turn to you for aid."

"It is a crime," replied the girl.

" I am your father," said Mr. Vandeleur.

This appeal seemed to produce its effect. A scuffling
noise followed upon the gravel, a chair was overset,
and then Francis saw the father and daughter stagger
across the walk and disappear under the verandali,
bearing the inanimate body of Mr. Rolles embraced
about the knees and shoulders. The young clergyman
was limp and pallid, and his head rolled upon his
shoulders at every step.

Was he alive or dead ? Francis, in spite of the Dic-
tator's declaration, inclined to the latter view, A great
crime had been committed ; a great calamity had fallen
upon the inhabitants of the house with the green blinds.
To his surprise, Francis found all horror for the deed
swallowed up in sorrow for a girl and an old man
whom he judged to be in the height of peril, A tide
of generous feeling swept into his heart ; he, too, would
help his father against man and mankind, against fate
and justice ; and casting open the shutters he closed
his eyes and threw himsdf with outstretched arms into
the foliage of the chestnut.

Branch after branch slipped from his grasp or broke
under his weight; then he caught a stalwart bough
under his armpit, and hung suspended for a second ;

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND.

IS3

and then he let himself drop and fell heavily against
the table. A cry of alarm from the house warned him
that his entrance had not been effected unobserved.
He recovered himself with a stagger, and in three
bounds crossed the intervening space and stood before
the door in the verandah.

In a small apartment, carpeted with matting and
surrounded by glazed cabinets full of rare and costly
curios, Mr. Vandeleur was stooping over the body of
Mr. RoUes. He raised himself as Francis entered, and
there was an instantaneous passage of hands. It was
the business of a second ; as fast as an eye can wink the
thing was done; the young man had not the time to be
sure, but it seemed to him as if the Dictator had taken
something from the curate's breast, looked at it lor the
least fraction of time as it lay in his hand, and then
suddenly and swiftly passed it to his daughter.

All this was over while Francis had still one foot
upon the threshold, and the other raised in air. The
next instant he was on his knees to Mr. Vandeleur.

" Father ! " he cried. " Let me too help you. I will
do what you wish and ask no questions; I will obey
you with my life; treat me as a son, and you will find
I have a son's devotion."

A deplorable explosion of oaths was the Dictator's
first reply.

" Son and Father ? " he cried. " Father and son ?

What d d unnatural comedy is all this ? How do

you come in my garden ? What do you want ? And
who, in God's name, are you ? "

Francis, with a stunned and shamefaced aspect, got
upon his feet again, and stood in silence.

Then a light seemed to break upon Mr. Vandeleur,
and he laughed aloud.

"I see," cried he. "It is the Scrymgeour. Very
well, Mr. Scrymgeour. Let me tell you in a few words
how you stand. You have entered my private residence
by force, or perhaps by fraud, but certainly with no
encouragement from me; and you come at a moment

L

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

of some annoyance, a guest having fainted at my table,
to besiege me with your protestations. You are no son
of mine. You are my brother's bastard by a fishwife,
if you want to know. I regard you with an indifference
closely bordering on aversion; and from what I now
see of your conduct, I judge your mind to be exactly
suitable to your exterior. I recommend you these
mortifying reflections for your leisure; and, in the
meantime, let me beseech you to rid us of your pres-
ence. If I were not occupied," added the Dictator,
with a terrifying oath, " I should give you the unholiest
drubbing ere you went ! "

Francis listened in profound humiliation. He would
have fled had it been possible; but as he had no means
of leaving the residence into which he had so un-
fortunately penetrated, he could do no more than stand
foolishly where he was.

It was Miss Vandeleur who broke the silence.

"Father," she said, "you speak in anger, Mr,
Scrymgeour may have been mistaken, but he meant
well and kindly."

"Thank you for speaking," returned the Dictator.
" You remind me of some other observations which I
hold it a point of honor to make to Mr. Scrymgeour.
My brother," he continued, addressing the young man,
"has been foolish enough to give you an allowance;
he was foolish enough and presumptuous enough lo
propose a match between you and this young lady.
You were exhibited to her two nights ago; and I
rejoice to tell you that she rejected the idea with dis-
gust. Let me add that I have considerable influence
with your father ; and it shall not be my fault if you
are not beggared of your allowance and sent back to
your scrivening ere the week be out."

The tones of the old man's voice were, if possible,
more wounding than his language ; Francis felt himself
exposed to the most cruel, blighting, and unbearable
contempt ; his head turned, and he covered his face
with his hands, uttering at the same time a tearless sob

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND.

155

of agony. But Miss Vandeleur once again interfered
in his behalf.

" Mr. Scrymgeour," she said, speaking in clear and
even tones, " you must not be concerned at my father's
harsh expressions. I felt no disgust for you ; on the
contrary, I asked an opportunity to make your better
acquaintance. As for what has passed to-night,
believe me it has filled my mind with both pity and
esteem."

Just then Mr. Rolles made a convulsive movement
with his arm, which convinced Francis that he was only
dnigged, and was beginning to throw off the infiuence
of the opiate. Mr. Vandeleur stooped over him and
examined his face for an instant.

" Come, come !" cried he, raising his head. "Let
there be an end of this. And since you are so pleased
with his conduct, Miss Vandeleur, take a candle and
show the bastard out."

The young lady hastened to obey.

" Thank you," said Francis, as soon as he was alone
with her in the garden. " I thank you from my soul.
This has been the bitterest evening of my life, but it
will have always one pleasant recollection."

"I spoke as I felt," she replied, "and in justice to
you. It made my heart sorry that you should be so
unkindly used."

By this time they had reached the garden gate ; and
Miss Vandeleur, having set the candle on the ground,
was already unfastening the bolts.

" One word more," said Francis. " This is not for
the last time — I shall see you again, shall I not 7 "

'■ Alas ! " she answered. " You have heard my
father. What can I do but obey ? "

" Tell me at least that it is not with your consent,"
returned Francis ; " tell me that you have no wish to
see the last of me."

" Indeed," replied she, " I have none. Vou seem to
me both brave and honest."

" Then," said Francis, " give me a keepsake."

L

15* NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

She paused for a moment, with her hand upon the
key ; for the various bars and bolts were all undone,
and there was nothing left but to open the lock.

" If I agree," she said, " will you promise to do as I
tell you from point to point ? "

" Can you ask ? " replied Francis. " I would do so
willingly on your bare word."

She turned the key and threw open the door.

" Be it so," said she. " You do not know what you
ask, but be it so. Whatever you hear," she continued,
" whatever happens, do not return to this house ; hurry
fast until you reach the lighted and populous quarters
of the city ; even there be upon your guard. You are
in a greater danger than you fancy. Promise me you
will not so much as look at any keepsake until you are
in a place of safety."

" I promise," replied Francis.

She put something loosely wrapped in a handkerchief
into the young man's hand ; and at the same time, with
more strength than he could have anticipated, she
pushed him into the street.

" Now, run ! " she cried.

He heard the door close behind him, and the noise
of the bolts being replaced,

'' My faith," said he, " since I have promised ! "

And he took lo his heels down the lane that leads into
the Rue Ravignan.

He was not fifty paces from the house with the green
blinds when the most diabolical outcry suddenly arose
out of the stillness of the night. Mechanically he stood
still; another passenger followed his example ; In the
neighboring floors he saw people crowding to the
windows; a conflagration could not have produced
more disturbance in this empty quarter. And yet It
seemed to be all the work of a single man, roaring
between grief and rage, like a lioness robbed of her
whelps ; and Francis was surprised and alarmed to hear
his own name shouted with English imprecations to
the wind

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND.

'57

His first movement was to return to the house ; his
second, as he remembered Miss Vandeleur's advice, to
continue his flight witii greater expedition than before ;
and he was in the act ol turning to put his thought in
action, when the Dictator, bareheaded, bawling aloud,
his white hair blowing about his head, shot past him
like a ball out of the cannon's mouth, and went career-
ing down the street.

That was a close shave," thought Francis Co him-
self. "What he wants with me, and why he should be
so disturbed, I cannot think ; but he is plainly not
good company for the moment, and I cannot do better
than follow Miss Vandeleur's advice."

So saying, he turned to retrace his steps, thinking to
double and descend by the Rue Lepic itself while his
pursuer should continue to follow after him on the other
line of street. The plan was ill-advised : as a n?atter
of fact, he should have taken his seat in the nearest
caf6, and waited there until the first heat of the pursuit
was over. But besides that Francis had no experience
and little natural aptitude for the small war of private
life, he was so unconscious of any evil on his part, that
he saw nothing to fear beyond a disagreeable interview.
And to disagreeable interviews he felt he had already
served his apprenticeship that evening ; nor could he
suppose that Miss Vandeleur had left anything unsaid.
Indeed, the young man was sore both in body and
mind — the one was all bruised, the other was full of
smarting arrows ; and he owned to himself that Mr.
Vandeleur was master of a very deadly tongue.

The thought of his bruises reminded him that he had
not only come without a hat, but that his clothes had
considerably suffered in his descent through the chest-
nut. At the first magazine he purchased a cheap wide-
awake, and had the disorder of his toilet summarily
repaired. The keepsake, still rolled in the handkerchief,
he thrust in the meanwhile into his trousers pocket.

Not many steps beyond the shop he was conscious
of a sudden shock, a hand upon his throat, an infuri'

L

'58

NEW^ ARABIA^r NIGHTS.

ated face close to his own, and an open mouth bawl-
ing curses in his ear. The Dictator, having found no
trace of his quarry, was returning by the other way.
Francis was a stalwart young fellow ; but he was no
match for his adversary whether in strength or skill ;
and after a few ineffectual struggles he resigned him-
self entirely to his captor.

" What do you want with me ? "

"We will tailc of that at home," returned the Dicta-
tor, grimly.

And he continued to march the young man up hill
in the direction of the house with the green blinds.

But Francis, although he no longer struggled, was
only waiting an opportunity to make a bold push for
freedom. With a sudden jerk he left the collar of his
coat in the hands of Mr. Vandeleur, and once more
made off at his best speed in the direction of the Boule-

The tables were now turned- If the Dictator was
the stronger, Francis, in the top of his youth, was the
more fleet of foot, and he had soon effected his escape
among the crowds. Relieved for a moment, but with
a growing sentiment of alarm and wonder in his mind,
he walked briskly until he debouched upon the Place
de I'Op^ra, lit up like day with electric lamps.

"This, at least," thought he, " should satisfy Miss
Vandeleur. "

And turning to his right along the Boulevards, he
entered the Caf^ Am^ricain and ordered some beer.
It was both late and early for the majority of the fre-
quenters of the establishment. Only two or three
persons, all men, were dotted here and there at sepa
rate tables in the hail ; and Francis was too much
occupied by his own thoughts to observe their pres-

He drew the handkerchief from his pocket. Thr
object wrapped in it proved to be a morocco case,
claspedand ornamentedin gilt, which opened by means
of a spring, and disclosed to the horrified young man

THE RAJAH'S DlA,\rOND.

'59

a diamond of monstrous bigness and extraordinary
brilliancy. The circumstance was so inexplicable, the
value of the stone was plainly so enormous, that Fran-
cis sat staring into the open casket without movement,
without conscious thought, like a man stricken sud-
denly with idiocy.

A hand was laid upon his shoulder, lightly but
firmly, and a quiet voice, which yet had in it the ring
of command, uttered these words in his ear: —

" Close the casket, and compose your face."

Looking up, he beheld a man, still young, of an
urbane and tranquil presence, and dressed with rich
simplicity. This personage had risen from a neigh-
boring table, and bringing his glass with him, had taken
a seat beside Francis.

" Close the casket," replied the stranger, " and put
it quietly back into your pocket, where I feel persuaded
it should never have been. Try, if you please, to
throw off your bewildered air, and act as though I were
one of your acquaintances whom you had met by
chance. So ! Touch glasses with me. That is better,
I fear, sir, you must be an amateur."

And the stranger pronounced these last words with
a smile of peculiar meaning, leaned back in his seat
and enjoyed a deep inhalation of tobacco.

"For God's sake," said Francis, "tell me who you are
and what this means? Why I should obey your most
unusual suggestions I am sure I know not ; but the
truth is, I have fallen this evening into so many per-
plexing adventures, and all I meet conduct themselves
so strangely, that I think I must either have gone mad
or wandered into another planet. Your face inspires
me with confidence ; you seem wise, good, and experi-
enced ; tell me, for lieaven's sake, why you accost me
in so odd a fashion ? "

"All in due time," replied the stranger. "But I
have the first hand, and you must begin by telling me
how the Rajah's Diamond is in your possession,"

" The Rajah's Diamond ! "

k.

i6o

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTi,.

"I would not speak so loud, if I were you," retutfl
the other. " But most certainly you have the Rajah's
Diamond in your pocket. I have seen and handled it
a score of times in Sir Thomas Vandeleur's collection."

"Sir Thomas Vandeleur ! The General! My
father ! "

" Your father ? " repeated the stranger. " I was not
aware the General had any family."

" I am illegitimate, sir," replied Francis with a flush.

The other bowed with gravity. It was a respectful
bow, as of a man silently apologizing to his equal ; and
Francis felt relieved and comforted, he scarce knew
why. The society of this person did him good ; he
seemed to touch firm ground ; a strong feeling of
respect grew up in his bosom, and mechanically he
removed his wide-awake as though in the presence of
a superior.

"1 perceive," said the stranger, "that your adven-
tures have not all been peaceful. Your collar is torn,
your face is scratched, you have a cut upon your tem-
ple ; you will, perhaps, pardon my curiosity when I
ask you to explain how you came by these injuries, and
how you happen to have stolen property to an enoi^
mous value in your pocket."

" I must differ from you ! " returned Francis, hotly,
" I possess no stolen property. And if you refer to the
diamond, it was given to me not an hour ago by Miss
Vandeleur in the Rue Lepic."

" By Miss Vandeleur of the Rue Lepic ! " repeated
the other. " Vou interest me more than you suppose.
Pray continue.'"

" Heavens ! " cried Francis.

His memory had made a sudden bound. He had
seen Mr. Vandeleur take an article from the breast of
his drugged visitor, and that article, he was now per-
suaded, was a morocco case.

" You have a light ? " inquired the stranger.

" Listen," said Francis. " I know not who you are,
but I beheve you to be worthy of confidence and

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND.

netful ; I find myself i

strange waters
1 since you invi

I must have

counsel

tell you all."

And he briefly recounted his experiences since the
day when he was summoned from the bank by his
lawyer.

"Yours is indeed a remarkable history," said the
stranger, after the young man had made an end of his
narrative; "and your position is full of difficulty and
peril. Many would counsel you to seek out your father,
and give the diamond to him ; but I have other views.
Waiter!" he cried.

The waiter drew near.

" Will you ask the manager to speak with me a
moment ? " said he ; and Francis observed once more,
both in his tone and manner, the evidence of a habit of
command.

The waiter withdrew, and returned in a moment
with the manager, who bowed with obsequious
respect.

' What," said he, "can I do to serve you?"

"Have the goodness," replied the stranger, indicat-
ing Francis, " to tell this gentleman my name.

You have the honor, sir," said the functionary,
addressing young Scrymgeour, "to occupy the same
table with His Highness Prince Florizel of Bohemia."

Francis rose with precipitation, and made a grate-
ful reverence to the Prince, who bade him resume
his seat.

"I thank you," said Florizel, once more addressing
the functionary ; "I am sorry to have deranged you
for BO small a matter."

And he dismissed him with a movement of his hand,

"And now," added tlie Prince, turning to Francis,
" give me the diamond."

Without a word the casket was handed over.

"You have done right," said Florizel; " your
sentiments have properly inspired you, and you will
live to be grateful for the misfortunes of to-night. A

NEIV ARABIAN NIGHTS.

man, Mr. Scrymgeour, may fall into a thousand j
plexities, but if his heart be upright and his intelligence
unclouded, he will issue from them all without dis-
honor. Let your mind be at rest ; your affairs are in
my hands ; and with the aid of heaven I am strong
enough to bring them to a good end. Follow me, if
you please, to my carriage."

So saying the Prince arose and, having left a piece of
gold for the waiter, conducted the young man from
the caf6 and along the Boulevard to where an
unpretentious brougham and a couple of servants out
of livery awaited his arrival.

"This carriage," said he, "is at your disposal;
collect your baggage as rapidly as you can make it
convenient, and my servants will conduct you to a
villa in the neighborhood of Paris where you can wait
in some degree of comfort until I have had time to
arrange your situation. You will find there a pleasant
garden, a library of good authors, a coolc, a cellar, and
some good cigars, which I recommend to your atten-
tion, J6rome," he added, turning to one of the ser-
Ivants, " you have heard what I say; I leave Mr. Scrym-
geour in your charge ; you will, I know, be careful of
my friend."
Francis uttered some broken phrases of gratitude.
" It will be time enough to thank me," said the
Prince, "when you are acknowledged by your father
and married to Miss Vandeleur."
And with that the Prince turned away and strolled
leisurely in the direction of Montmartre. He hailed
the first passing cab, gave an address, and a quarter of
an hour afterwards, having discharged the driver some
distance lower, he was knocking at Mr. Vandeleurs
garden gate.
It was opened with singular precautions by the Dic-
tator in person.
"Who are you ?" he demanded.
"You must pardon me this late visit, Mr. Vande-
leur," replied the Prince.
A fc_

d

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND.

163

" Your Highness is always welcome," returned Mr.
Vandeleur, stepping back.

The Prince profited by the open space, and without
waiting for his host walked right into the house and
opened the door of the salon. Two people were seated
there ; one was Miss Vandeleur, who bore the marks
of weeping about her eyes, and was still shaken from
time to time by a sob ; in the other the Prince recog-
nized the young man who had consulted him on literary
matters about a month before, in a club smoking-room.

"Good evening. Miss Vandeleur," said Florizel ;
" you look fatigued. Mr. RoUes, I believe ? I hope
you have profited by the study of Gaboriau, Mr.
Rolles."

But the young clergyman's temper was too much
embittered for speech ; and he conlented himself with
bowing stiffly, and continued to gnaw his lip.

" To what good wind," said Mr. Vandeleur, follow-
ing his guest, " am I to attribute the honor of your
Highness's presence ? "

I am come on business," returned the Prince ; " on
business with you ; as soon as that is settled I shall
request Mr. Rolles to accompany me for a walk. Mr.
Rolles," he added, with severity, "let me remind you
that I have not yet sat down."

The clergyman sprang to his feet with an apology ;
whereupon the Prince took an arm-chair beside the
table, handed his hat to Mr. Vandeleur, his cane to
Mr. Rolles, and, leaving them standing and thus
menially employed upon his service, spoke as follows : —

" I have come here, as I said, upon business ; but,
had I come looking for pleasure, I could not have been
more displeased with my reception nor more dissatis-
fied with my company. You, sir," addressing Mr,
Rolles, " you have treated your superior in station
with discourtesy ; you, Vandeleur, receive me with a
smile, but you know right well that your hands are not
yet cleansed from misconduct. I do not desire to be
interrupted, sir," he added, imperiously ; " I am here

t64 A'£'H' ARABIAN NIGHTS.

to speak, and not to listen ; and I have to ask you to
hear me with respect, and to obey punctiliously. At
the earliest possible date your daughter shall be mar-
ried at the Embassy to my friend, Francis Scrymgeour,
your brother's acknowledged son. You wiil oblige me
by offering not less than ten thousand pounds dowry.
For yourself, I will indicate to you in writing a mission
of some importance in Siam which I destine to your
care. And now, sir, you will answer me in two words
whether or not you agree to these conditions."

" Your Highness will pardon me," said Mr, Vande-
leur, " and permit me, with all respect, to submit to
him two queries ? "

"The permission is granted," replied the Prince.

"Your Highness," resumed the Dictator, "has
called Mr. Scrymgeour his friend. Believe me, had I
known that he was thus honored, I should have treated
him with proportional respect."

" You interrogate adroitly," said the Prince ; " but
it will not serve your turn. You have my commands ;
if I had never seen that gentleman before to-night, it
would not render them less absolute."

" Your Highness interprets my meaning with his
usual subtlety," returned Vandeleur. "Once more:
I have, unfortunately, put the poHce upon the track of
Mr. Scrymgeour on a charge of theft ; am I to with-
draw or to uphold the accusation ? "

"You will please yourself," replied Florizel. "The
question is one between your conscience and the laws
of this land. Give me my hat ; and you, Mr. RoHes,
give me my cane and follow me. Miss Vandeleur, I
wish you good evening. I judge," he added to Van'ie-
leur, "that your silence means unqualified assent."

'■'If I can do no better," repHed the old man, "I
shall submit ; but I warn you openly it shall not be
without a struggle."

" You are old," said the Prince ; " but years are dis-
graceful to the wicked. Your age is more unwise than
the youth of others. Do not provoke me, or you may

THE RAJAWS DIAMOND.

1C5

find me harder than you dream. This is the first time
that I have fallen across your path in anger \ take care
that it be the last."

With these words, motioning the clergyman to follow,
Florizel left the apartment and directed his steps
towards the garden-gate ; and the Dictator, following
with a candle, gave them light, and once more undid
the elaborate fastenings with which he sought to pro-
tect himself from intrusion.

"Your daughter is no longer present," said the
Prince, turning on the threshold, " Let me tell you
that I understand your threats ; and you have only to
lift your hand to bring upon yourself sudden and irre-
mediable ruin."

The Dictator made no reply ; but as the Prince
turned his back upon him in the lamplight he made
gesture full of menace and insane fury ; and the next
moment, slipping round a corner, he was running at
full speed for the nearest cab-stand.

(ffere, says my Arabian, the thread of events is finally
diverted from The House with the Green Blinds.
One more adventure, he adds, and we have done with
The Rajah's Diamond. That last link in the chain is
known among the inhabitants of Bagdad by the name uj
The Adventure of Prince Florizel and a Detec-
TIVR.)

ADVENTURE OF PRINCE FLORIZEL AND
THE DETECTIVE.

Prince Florizel walked with Mr. Rolles to the door
of a small hotel where the latter resided. They spoke
much together, and the clergyman was more than once
affected to tears by the mingled severity and tender-
ness of Florizel's reproaches.

"I have made ruin of my life," he said at last
"Help me; tell me what I am to do; I have, alas!
neither the virtues of a priest nor the dexterity of i
rogue."

"Now that you are humbled," said the Prince, "I
command no longer; the repentant have to do with
God and not with princes. But if you will let rae
advise you, go to Australia as a colonist, seek menial
labor in the open air, and try to forget that you have
ever been a clergyman, or that you ever set eyes on
that accursed stone."

" Accurst indeed !" replied Mr. Holies. " Where is
it now ? What further hurt is it not working for man-
kind ?"

" It will do no more evil," returned the Prince. "It
is here in my pocket. And this," he added, kindly,
"will show that I place some faith in your penitence,
young as it is."

" Suffer me to touch your hand," pleaded Mr. Rolles.

"No," replied Prince Florizel, not yet."

The tone in which he uttered these last words was
eloquent in the ears of the young clergyman ; and for
some minutes after the Prince had turned away he
stood on the threshold following with his eyes the
retreating figure and invoking the blessing of heaven
upon a man so excellent in counsel.

For several hours the Prince walked alone in unfre-
i66

. ^ J

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND.

167

quented streets. His mind was full of concern; what
to do with the diamond, whether to return it to its
owner, whom he judged unworthy of this rare posses-
sion, or to take some sweeping and courageous meas-
ure and put it out of the reach of all manlcind at once
and for ever was a problem too grave to be decided in
a moment. The manner in which it had come into his
hands appeared manifestly providential; and as he
took out the jewel and looked at it under the street
lamps, its size and surprising brilliancy inclined him
more and more to think of it as an unmixed and dan-
gerous evil for the world.

"God help me!" bethought; "if I look at it much
oftener I shall begin to grow covetous myself,"

At last, though still uncertain in his mind, he turned
his steps towards the small but elegant mansion on the
riverside, which had belonged for centuries to his royal
family. The arms of Bohemia are deeply graved over
»he door and upon the tall chimneys; passengers have
a look into a green court set with the most costly
flowers, and a stork, the only one in Paris, perches on
the gable all daylongand keeps a crowd before the
house. Grave servants are seen passing to and fro
within; and from time to time the great gate is thrown
open and a carriage rolls below the arch. For many
reasons this residence was especially dear to the heart
of Prince Florizel; he never drew near to it without
enjoying that sentiment of home-coming so rare in the
lives of the great; and on the present evening he
beheld its tall roof and mildly illuminated windows
with unfeigned relief and satisfaction.

As he was approaching the postern door by which
he always entered when alone, a man stepped forth
from the shadow and presented himself with an obei-
sance in the Prince's path.

" I have the honor of addressing Prince Florizel of
Bohemia ? " said he.

"Such is my title," replied the Prince. "What do
you want with me ?"

b.

i68

" I am," said the man, " a detective, and I havc^
present your Highness with this billet from the Prefect
of Police."

The Prince took the letter and glanced it through
by the light of the street lamp. It was highly apolo-
getic, but requested him to follow the bearer to the
Prefecture without delay.

"In short," said Flonzel, " I am arrested."

"Your Highness," replied the officer, "nothing, I
am certain, couid be further from the intention of the
Prefect You will observe that he has not granted a
warrant. It is mere formality, or call it if you pre-
fer, an obligation that your Highness lays on the
authorities."

" At the same time," asked the Prince, " if I were
to refuse to follow you ? "

" I will not conceal from your Highness that a con-
siderable discretion has been granted me," replied the
detective with a bow.

" Upon my word," cried Florizel, " your effrontery
confounds me ! Yourself, as an agent, I must pardon ;
but your superiors shall dearly smart for their miscon-
duct. What, have you any idea, is the cause of this
impolitic and unconstitutional act ? You will observe
that I have as yet neither refused nor consented and
much may depend on your prompt and ingenuous
answer. Let me remind you, officer, that this is an
affair of some gravity."

" Your Highness," said the detective humbly, " Gen-
eral Vandeleur and his brother have had the incredi-
ble presumption to accuse you of theft. The famous
diamond, they declare, is in your hands. A word
from you in denial will most amply satisfy the Prefect ;
nay, I go farther : if your Highness would so far honor
a subaltern as to declare his ignorance of the matter
even to myself, I should ask permission to retire upon
the spot."

Florizel, up to the last moment, had regarded his
adventure in the light of a trifle, only serious upon

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND.

169

iDternational considerations. At the name of Vande-
leur the horrible truth broke upon him in a moment;
he was not only arrested, but he was guilty. This was
not only an annoying incident — it was a peril to his
honor. What was he to say? What was he to do?
The Rajah's Diamond was indeed an accursed stoni;;
and it seemed as if he were to be the last victim to its
influence.

One thing was certain. He could not give the
required assurance to the detective. He must gain.tirae.

His hesitation had not lasted a second.

"Be it so," said he, "let us walk together to the
Prefecture,"

The man once more bowed, and proceeded to fol-
low Florizel at a respectful distance in the rear,

" Approach," said the Prince. "I am in a humor
to talk, and, if I mistake not, now I look a
this is not the first time that we have met."

" I count it an honor," rephed the of
your Highness should recollect my face,
years since I had the pleasure of an intervi

" To remember faces," returned Florizel, " is as
much a part of my profession as it is of yours. Indeed,
rightly looked upon, a Prince and a detective serve in
the same corps. We are both combatants against
crime; only mine is the more lucrative and yours the
more dangerous rank, and there is a sense in which
both may be made equally honorable to a good man.
I had rather, strange as you may think it, be a detec-
tive of character and parts than a weak and ignoble
sovereign."

The officer was overwhelmed.

" Your Highness returns good for evil," said he,
"To an act of presumption be replies by the most
amiable condescension."

" How do you know," replied Florizel, "that I am
not seeking to corrupt you ? "

" Heaven preserve me from the temptation ! " cried
the detective.

t you again,

iicer, "that
It is eight

I the detective.

I70

NE W ARABIA!^ NIGHTS.

k

" I applaud your answer," returned the Prince,
is that of a wise and honest man. The world is a
great place, and slocked with wealth and beauty, and
there is no limit to the rewards that may be offered.
Such an one who would refuse a million of money may
sell his honor for an empire or the love of a woman;
and I myself, who speak to you, have seen occasions
BO tempting, provocations so irresistible to the strength
of human virtue, that I have been glad to tread in
your steps and recommend myself to the grace of God
It is thus, thanks to that modest and becoming habit
alone," he added, "that you and I can walk this town
together with untarnished hearts."

' I had always heard that you were brave," replied
the officer, " but I was not aware that •you were wise
and pious, Vou speak the truth, and you speak it
with an accent that moves me to the heart. This
world is indeed a place of trial."

"We are now," said Florizel, "in the middle of the
bridge. Lean your elbows on the parapet and look
over. As the water rushing below, so the passions and
complications of life carry away the honesty of weak
men. Let me tell you a story."

" I receive your Highness's commands," replied the

And, imitating the Prince, he leaned against the
parapet, and disposed himself to listen. The city was
already sunk in slumber; had it not been for the
infinity of hghts and the outline of buildings on the
starry sky, they might have been alone beside some
country river.

"An officer," began Prince Florizel, "a man of
courage and conduct, who had already risen by merit
to an eminent rank, and won not only admiration but
respect, visited, in an unfortunate hour for his peace
of mind, the collections of an Indian Prince. Here
he beheld a diamond so extraordinary for size and
beauty that from that instant he had only one desire
in life: honor, reputation, friendship, the love of coun-

THE RAJAH'S DIAMOND.

ny, he was ready i

rifice all for this lump of

sparkling crystal. For three years he served this s
barbarian potentate as Jacob served Laban; he falsified
frontiers, he connived at murders, he unjustly con-
demned and executed a brother-officer who had the
misfortune to dispJease the Rajah by some honest
freedoms; lastly, at a time of great danger to his native
land, he betrayed a body of his fellow -soldiers and
suffered them to be defeated and massacred by thou-
sands. In the end, he had amassed a magnificent
fortune, and brought home with him the coveted
diamond.

"Years passed," continued the Prince, " and at
length the diamond is accidentally lost. It falls into
the hands of a simple and laborious youth, a student,
a minister of God, just entering on a career of use-
fulness and even distinction. Upon him also the
spell is cast; he deserts everj-thing, his holy calling,
his studies, and flees with the gem into a foreign coun-
try. The officer has a brother, an astute, daring,
unscrupulous man, who learns the clergyman's secret.
What does he do ? Tell his brother, inform the police .'
No; upon this man also the Satanic charm has fallen;
he must have the stone for himself. At the risk of
murder, he drugs the young priest and seizes the prey.
And now, by an accident which is not important to
my moral, the jewel passes out of his custody into
that of another, who, terrified at what he sees, gives it
into the keeping of a man in high station and above
reproach.

"The officer's name is Thomas Vandeleur," con-
tinued Floriael. "The stone is called the Rajah's
Diamond. And " — suddenly opening his hand — ' you
behold it here before your eyes,"

The officer started back with a cry.

''We have spoken of corruption," said the Prince.
" To me this nugget of bright crystal is as loathsome
as though it were crawhng with the worms of death; it
is as shocking as though it were compacted out of inno-

NE1V ARABIAN NIGHTS.

cent blood. I see it here in my hand, and I knm
is shining with hell-fire. I have told you but a hun-
dredth part of its story; what passed in former ages,
to what crimes and treacheries it incited men of yore,
the imagination trembles to conceive; for years and
years it has faithfully served the powers of hell;
enough, I say, of blood, enough of disgrace, enough ot
broken lives and friendships;tall things come to an end,
the evil like the good; pestilence as well as beautiful
music; and as for this diamond, God forgive me if I
do wrong, but its empire ends to-night."

The Prince made a sudden movement with his hand,
and the jewel, describing an arc of light, dived with a
splash into the flowing river.

" Amen," said Florizel, with gravity. " I have slain
a cockatrice ! "

"God pardon me!" cried the detective, "What
have you done ? I am a ruined man."

"I think," returned the Prince, with a smile, "that
many 'well- to-do people in this city might envy you
your ruin."

'Alas ! your Highness ! " said the officer, " and you
corrupt me after all ?"

" It seems there was no help for it," replied FlorJzeL
"And now let us go forward to the Prefecture."

Not long after, the marriage of Francis Scrymgeour
and Miss Vandeleur was celebrated in great privacy;
and the Prince acted on that occasion as groom's man.
The two Vandeleurs surprised some rumor of what
had happen to the diamond; and their vast diving
operations on the River Seine are the wonder and
amusement of the idle. It is true that through some
miscalculation they have chosen the wrong branch of
the river. As for the Prince, that sublime person,
having now served his turn, may go, along with the
Arabian- Author, topsy-turvy into space. But if the
reader insists on more specific information, I ara happy
to say that a recent revolution hurled him from the

THE RAJAWS DIAMOND. 173

ifarone of Bohemia, in consequence of his continued
absence and edifying neglect of public business; and
that his Highness now keeps a cigar store in Rupert
Street, much frequented by other foreign refugees.
I go there from time to time to smoke and have a
chat, and find him as great a creature as in the days of
his prosperity; he has an Olympian air behind the
counter; and although a sedentary life is beginning to
tell upon his waistcoat, he is probably, take him for all
in all, the handsomest tobacconist in London.

THE PAVILION ON THE LINKS.

INSCRIBED TO

D, A. S,

W MEMORY OF DA YS NEAR FIDRA.

iJsrS PAVILION ON THE LINKS.

CHAPTER I.

I WAS a great solitary when I was young, I made
it ray pride to keep aloof and suffice for my
own entertainment ; and I may say that I had neither
friends nor acquaintances until I met that friend who
became my wife and the mother of my children. With
one man only was I on private terms ; this was R.
Northmour, Esquire, of Graden Easter, in Scotland.
We had met at college ; and though there was not
much lilting between us, nor even much intimacy, we
were so nearly of a humor that we could associate with
ease to both. Misanthropes, we believed ourselves to
be ; but I have thought since that we were only sulky
fellows. It was scarcely a companionship, but a
coexistence in unsociability. Northmour's exceptional
violence of temper made it no easy affair for him to
keep the peace with anyone but me ; and as he res-
pected by silent ways, and let me come and go as I
pleased, I could tolerate his presence without concern.
I think we called each other friends.

When Northmour took his degree and I decided to
leave the university without one, he invited me on a
long visit to Graden Easter ; and it was thus that I
first became acquainted with the scene of my adven-
tures. The mansion house of Graden stood in ableak
stretch of country some three miles from the shore of
the German Ocean. It was as large as a barrack ; and
as it had been built of a soft stone, liable to c
"77

lyS JVEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

in the eager air of the seaside, it was damp
draughty within and half ruinous without. It was
impossible for two young men to lodge with comfort in
such a dwelling. But there stood in the northern part
of the estate, in a wilderness of links and blowing sand-
hills, and between a plantation and the sea, a small
Pavilion or Belvedere, of modern design, which was
exactly suited to our wants ; and in this hermitage,
speaking little, reading much, and rarely associating
except at meals, Northmour and I spent four tempes-
tuous winter months. I might have stayed longer ;
but one March night there sprang up between us a dis-
pute, which rendered my departure necessary. North-
mour spoke hotly, I remember, and I suppose I must
have made some tart rejoinder. He leaped from his
chair and grappled me ; I had to fight, without exag-
geration, for my life ; and it was only with a great
effort that I mastered him, for he was near as strong
in body as myself, and seemed filled with the deviL
The next morning, we met on our usual terms ; but I
judged it more dehcate to withdraw ; nor did he
attempt to dissuade me.

It was nine years before I revisited the neighbor-
hood, I traveled at that time with a tilt cart, a tent,
and a cooking-stove, tramping all day beside the wag-
on, and at night, whenever it was possible, gipsying in
a cove of the hills, or by the side of a wood. I believe
I visited in this manner most of the wild and desolate
regions both in England and Scotland ; and, as I had
neither friends nor relations, I was troubled with no
correspondence, and had nothing in the nature of
head-quarters, unless it was the office of my solicitors,
from whom I drew my income twice a year. It was a
life in which I deUghted ; and I fully thought to have
grown old upon the march, and at last died in a ditch.

It was my whole business to find desolate corners,
where I could camp without the fear of interruption ;
and hence being in another part of the same shire, I
bethought me suddenly of the Pavilion on the Linfc&

THE FA VILION OW THE LINKS.

179

No thoroughfare passed within three miles of it. The
nearest town, and that was but a fisher village, was at
a distance of six or seven. For ten miles of length,
and from a depth varying from three miles to half a
mile, this belt of barren country lay along the sea.
The beach, which was the natural approach, was fuU
of quicksands. Indeed I may say there is hardly a
better place of concealment in the United Kingdom.
I determined to pass a week in the Sea- Wood of Gra-
den-Easter, and making a long stage, reached it about
sundown on a wild September day.

The country, I have said, was mixed sand-hill and
links ; lifiks being a Scottish name for sand which has
ceased drifting and become more or less solidly covered
with turf. The pavilion stood on an even space , a
little behind it, the wood began in a hedge of elders
huddled together by the wind ; in front, a few tumbled
sand-hills stood between it and the sea. An outcrop-
ping of tock had formed a bastion for the sand, so that
there was here a promontory in the coast-line between
two shallow bays ; and just beyond the tides, the rock
again cropped out and formed an islet of small dimen-
sions but strikingly designed. The quicksands were
of great extent at low water, and had an infamous
reputation in the country. Close in shore, between the
islet and the promontory, it was said that they would
swallow a man in four minutes and a half ; but there
may have been little ground for this precision. The
district was alive with rabbits, and haunted by gulls
which made a continual piping about the pavilion.
On summer days the outlook was bright and even
gladsome ; but at sundown in September, with a high
wind, and a heavy surf rolling in close along the iinfts,
the place told of nothing but dead mariners and sea
disasters, A ship beating to windward on the horizon,
and a huge truncheon of wreck half buried in the
sands at my feet, completed the innuendo of the scene.

The pavilion — it had been built by the last proprie-
tor, Northmour's uncle, a silly and prodigal virtuoso—

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

presented little signs of age. It was two stories in
height, Italian in design, surrounded by a patch of
garden in which nothing had prospered but a few coarse
flowers; and looked, with its shuttered windows, not
like a house that had been deserted, but like one that
had never been tenanted by man, Northmour was
plainly from home; whether, as usual, sulking in the
cabin of his yacht, or in one of his fitful and extrava-
gant appearances in the world of society, I had, of
course, no means of guessing. The place had an air
of solitude that daunted even a solitary like myself ;
the wind cried in the chimneys with a strange and
wailing note ; and it was with a sense of escape, as if
I were going indoors, that I turned away and driving
my cart before me entered the skirts of the wood.

The Sea-Wood of Graden had been planted to shel-
ter the cultivated fields behind, and check the encroach-
ments of the blowing sand. As you advanced into it
from coastward, elders were succeeded by other hardy
shrubs ; but the timber was all stunted and bushy ; it
led a life of conflict ; the trees were accustomed to
swing there all night long in fierce winter tempests; and
even in early spring, the leaves were already flying, and
autumn was beginning, in this exposed plantation.
Inland the ground rose into a httle hill, which, along
with the islet, served as a sailing mark for seamen.
When the hill was open of the islet to the north, ves-
sels must bear well to the eastward to clear Graden
Ness and the Graden BuUers. In the lower ground, a
streamlet ran among the trees, and, being dammed
with dead leaves and clay of its own carrying, spread
out every here and there, and lay in stagnant pools.
One or two ruined cottages were dotted about the
wood ; and, according to Northmour, these were eccle-
siastical foundations, and in their time had sheltered
pious hermits.

I found a den, or small hollow, where there was a
spring of pure water; and there, clearing away the
brambles, I pitched the tent, and made a lire to cook

THE PA VIUON OJV THE LINKS.

i8i

my supper. My horse I picketed farther in the wood
where there was a patch of sward. The banks of the
den not only concealed the light of my fire, but
sheltered me from the wind, which was cold as well as
high.

The life I was leading made me both hardy and
frugal. I never drank but water, and rarely ate any-
thing more costly than oatmeal ; and 1 required so
little sleep, that, although I rose with the peep of day,
I would often lie long awake in the dark or starry
watches of the night. Thus in Graden Sea-Wood,
although I fell thankfully asleep by eight in the even-
ing I was awake again before eleven with a full posses-
sion of my faculties, and no sense of drowsiness or
fatigue. I rose and sat by the fire, watching the trees
and clouds tumult uou sly tossing and fleeing overhead,
and hearkening to the wind and rollers along the
shore; till at length, growing weary of inaction, I quitted
the den, and strolled towards the borders of the wood.
A young moon, buried in mist, gave a faint illumination
to my steps; and the light grew brighter as I walked
forth into the links. At the same moment, the wind,
smelling salt of the open ocean and carrying particles
of sand, struck me with its full force, so that I had to
bow my head.

When I raised it again to look about me, I was aware
of a light in the pavilion. It was not stationary; but
passed from one window to another, as though some
one were reviewing the different apartments with a
lamp or candle. I watched it for some seconds in
great surprise. When I had arrived in the afternoon
the house had been plainly deserted ; now it was as
plainly occupied. It was my first idea that a gang of
thieves might have broken in and be now ransacking
Northmour's cupboards, which were many and not ill
supplied. But what should bring thieves to Graden
Easter ? And, again, all the shutters bad been thrown
open, and it would have been more in the character of
»uch gentry to close them. I dismissed the notion.

b.

NE W ARABIAN NIGHTS,

and fell back upon another. No rthmour himself mnst
have arrived, and was now airing and inspecting the

I have said that there was no real affection between
this man and me; but, had I loved him like a brother,
I was then so much in love with solitude that I should
none the less have shunned his company. As it was,
I turned and ran for it; and it was with genuine satis-
faction that I found myself safely back beside the fire.
I had escaped an acquaintance; I should have one
more night in comfort. In the morning, I might either
slip away before Northmour was abroad, or pay him as
short a visit as I chose.

But when morning came, I thought the situation so
diverting that I forgot my shyness. Northmour was
at my mercy; I arranged a good practical jest, though
I knew well that my neighbor was not the man to jest
with in security; and, chuckling beforehand over its
success, took my place among the elders at the edge of
the wood, whence I could command the door of the
pavilion. The shutters were all once more closed,
which I remember thinking odd; and the house, with
its white walls and green Venetians, looked spruce and
habitable in the morning light. Hour after hour
passed, and still no sign of Northmour. I knew him
for a sluggard in the morning; but, as it drew on
towards noon, I lost my patience. To say the troth,
I had promised myself to break my fast in the pavil-
ion, and hunger began to prick me sharply. It was a
pity to let the opportunity go by without some cause
for mirth; but the grosser appetite prevailed, and I
relinquished my jest with regret, and sallied from the
wood.

The appearance of the house affected me, as I drew
near, with disquietude. It seemed unchanged since
last evening; and I had expected it, I scarce knew
why, to wear some external signs of habitation. But
no: the windows were all closely shuttered, the chim-
neys breathed no smoke, and the front door itself wai

THE PA VILlQff ON THE LINKS. 1B3

closely padlocked. NorthmouT, therefore, had entered
by the back; this was the natural, and, indeed, the
necessary conclusion; and you may judge of my sur-
prise when, on turning the house, I found the back
door similarly secured.

My mind at once reverted to the original theory of
thieves; and I blamed myself sharply for my last
night's inaction. I examined all the windows on the
lower story, but none of them had been tampered with;
I tried the padlocks, but they were both secure. It
thus became a problem how the thieves, if thieves they
were, had managed to enter the house. They must
have got, I reasoned, upon the roof of the outhouse
where Northmour used to keep his photographic bat-
tery; and from thence, either by the window of the
study or that of my old bedroom, completed their bur-
glarious entry.

I followed what I supposed was their example; and,
getting on the roof, tried the shutters of each room.
Both were secure; but I was not to be beaten; and,
with a little force, one of them flew open, grazing, as it
did so, the back of my hand. I remember, I put the
wound to my mouth, and stood for perhaps half a min-
ute licking it like a dog, and mechanically gazing
behind me over the waste links and the sea; and, in
that space of time, my eye made note of a large
schooner yacht some miles Co the north-east. Then I
threw up the window and climbed in.

I went over the house, and nothing can express my
mystification. There was no sign of disorder, but, on
the contrary, the rooms were unusually clean and pleas-
ant. I found fires laid, ready for lighting; three bed
rooms prepared with a luxury quite foreign to North-
mour's habits, and with water in the ewers and the beds
turned down; a table set for three in the dining-room;
and an ample supply of cold meats, game and vegeta-
bles on the pantry shelves. There were guests
expected, that was plain; but why guests, when Notth-
mour hated society ? And, above all, why was the

i84 NE W ARABIAN NIGHTS.

house thus stealthily prepared at dead of night ? and
why were the shutters closed and the doors padlocked ?

I effaced all traces of my visit, and came forth from
the window feeling sobered and concerned.

The schooner yacht was still in the same place; and
it flashed for a moment through my mind that this
might be the Red Earl bringing the owner of the
pavilion and his guests. But the vessel's hea4 was set
the other way.

CHAPTER n.

TELLS OF THE NOCTURNAL LANDING F

M THE YACHT.

I returned to the den to cook myself a meal, of
which I stood in great need, as well as to care for my
horse, whom I had somewhat neglected in the morning.
From time to time I went down to the edge of the
wood ; but there was no change in the pavilion, and
not a human creature was seen all day upon the links.
The schooner in the offing was the one touch of life
within my range of vision. She, apparently with no
set object, stood off and on or lay to, hour after hour ;
but as the evening deepened, she drew steadily nearer,
I became more convinced that she carried Northmour
and his friends, and that they would probably come
ashore after dark ; not only because that was of a piece
with the secresy of the preparations, but because the
tide would not have fiowed sufficiently before eleven to
cover Graden Floe and the other sea quags that fortified
the shore against invaders.

All day the wind had been going down, and the sea
along with it ; but there was a return towards sunset of
the heavy weather of the day before. The night set in
pitch dark. The wind came off the sea in squalls, like
the firing of a battery of cannon ; now and then there
was a flaw of rain, and the surf rolled heavier with the
rising tide. I was down at my observatory among the
elders, when a hght was run up to the masthead of the
schooner, and showed she was closer in than when
1 had last seen her by the dying daylight. I concluded
that this must be a signal to NorChmour's associates on
shore; and, stepping forth into the links, looked around
me for something in response.

A small footpath ran along the margin of the wood,
and formed the most direct communication between

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS,

the pavilion and the
eyes to that side, I s.

house ; and, as I cast mf
V a spark of light, not a quarter
; away, and rapidly approaching. From its
jurse it appeared to be the hght of a lantern
carried by a person who followed the windings of the
path, and was often staggered and taken aback by the
more violent squalls. I concealed myself once more
among the elders, and waited eagerly for the new
comer's advance. It proved to be a woman ; and, as
she passed within half a rod of my ambush, I was able
to recognize the features. The deaf and silent old
dame, who had nursed Northmour in his childhood, was
his associate in this underhand affair.

I followed her at a little distance, taking advantage
of the innumerable heights and hollows, concealed by
the darkness, and favored not only by the nurse's deaf-
ness, but the uproarof the wind and surf. She entered
the pavilion, and, going at once to the upper story,
opened and set a light in one of the windows that looked
towards the sea. Immediately afterwards the light at
the schooner's masthead was run down and extin-
guished. Its purpose had been attained, and those on
board were sure that they were expected. The old
woman resumed her preparations ; although the other
shutters remained closed, I could see a glimmer going
to and fro about the house ; and a gush of sparks from
one chimney after another soon told me that the fires
were being kindled.

Northmour and his guests, I '
would come ashore as soon as thi
floe. It was a wild night for boat sei
alarm mingle with ray curiosity as
danger of the landing. My old i
true, was the most eccentric of m.
eccentricity was both disquieting ;
consider. A variety of feelings thus led me towards
the beach, where I lay flat on my face in a hollow with-
in six feet of the track that led to the pavilion.
Thence, I should have the satisfaction of recognizing

i now persuaded,
was water on the
:e; and I felt some
I reflected on the
icquaintance, it was
n ; but the present
ind lugubrious to

THE PA VILION ON THE LINKS. 1S7

the arrivals, and, if they should prove to be acquaint-
ances, greeting them as soon as they had landed.

Some time before eleven, while the tide was still
dangerously low, a boat's lantern appeared close in
shore ; and, my attention being thus awakened, I could
perceive another still far to seaward, violently tossed,
and sometimes hidden by the billows. The weather,
which was getting dirtier as the night went on, and the
perilous situation of the yacht upon a lee-shore, had
probabiy driven them to attempt a landing at the ear-
liest possible moment.

A little afterwards, four yachtsmen carrying a very
heavy chest, and guided by a fifth with a lantern, passed
close in front of me as I lay, and were admitted to the
pavilion by the nurse. They returned to the beach, and
passed me a third time with another chest, larger but
apparently not so heavy as the first. A third time they
made the transit ; and on this occasion one of the
yachtsmen carried a leather portmanteau, and the others
a lady's trunk and carriage bag. My curiosity was
sharply excited. If a woman were among the guests
of Northmour, it would show a change in his habits and
an apostasy from his pet theories of life, well calculated
to fill me with surprise. When he and I dwelt there
together, the paviUon had been a temple of misogyny.
And now, one of the detested sex was to he installed
under its roof. I remembered one or two particulars,
a few notes of daintiness and almost of coquetry which
had struck me the day before as I surveyed the prepa-
rations in the house ; their purpose was now clear, and
I thought myself dull not to have perceived it from the
first.

While I was thus reflecting a second lantern drew
near me from the beach. It was carried by a yachts-
man whom I had not yet seen, and who was conduct-
ing two other persons to the pavilion. These two
persons were unquestionably the guests for whom
the house was made ready; and, straining eye and
ear, I set myself to watch them as they passed. One

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

was an unusiially tall irian, in a traveling hat sloucffl
over his eyes, and a highland cape closely buttonfd
and turaed up so as to conceal his face. You could
make out no more of him than that he was, as I have
said, unusually tall, and walked feebly with a heavy
stoop. By his side, and either clinging to him or giv-
ing him support — I could not make out which — was a
young, tall, and slender figure of a woman. She was
extremely pale; but in the light of the lantern her face
was so marred by strong and changing shadows, that
she might equally well have been as ugly as sin or as
beautiful as I afterwards found her to be.

When they were just abreast of me, the girl made
some remark which was drowned by the noise of the
wind.

" Hush! " said her companion; and there was some-
thing in the tone with which the word was uttered
that thrilled and rather shook my spirits. It seemed
to breathe from a bosom laboring under the deadliest
terror; I have never heard another syllable so express-
ive; and I still hear it again when I am feverish at
md my mind runs upon old times. The man

i he spoke; I had a glimpse
lose which seemed to have
md his light eyes seemed
;Dme strong and unpleasant

e admitted in theil

turned towards the girl at
of much red beard and a i
been broken in youth; ;
shining in his face with s
emotion.

But these two passed on and w
turn to the pavilion.

One by one, or in groups, the seamen returned to
the beach. The wind brought me the sound of a
rough voice crying, "Shove off!" Then, after a
pause, another lantern drew near. It was Northmour
alone.

My wife and I, a man and a woman, have often
agreed to wonder how a person could be, at the same
time, so handsome and so repulsive as Northmour,
He had the appearance of a finished gendeman; his
face bore every mark of intelligence and courage, but

^

THE PA VJL/O.V DA' THE LINKS. 189

you had only to look at him, even in his most amiabl*
moment, to see that he had the temper of a slave cap-
tain. I never knew a character that was both explos-
ive and revengeful to the same degree; he combined
the vivacity of the south with the sustained and deadly
hatreds of the north; and both traits were plainly
written on his face, which was a sort of danger signal.
In person he was tall, strong, and active; his hair and
complexion very dark; his features handsomely
designed, but spoiled by a menacing expression.

At that moment he was somewhat paler than by
nature; he wore a heavy frown; and his lips worked,
and he looked sharply round as he walked, like a man
besieged with apprehensions. And yet I thought he
had a look of triumph underlying all, as though he had
already done much, and was near the end of an
achievement.

Partly from a scruple of delicacy — which I dare say
came too late — partly from the pleasure of startling an
acquaintance, I desired to make ray presence known
to him without delay.

I got suddenly to my feet, and stepped forward,

" Northmour ! " said I.

I have never had so shocking a surprise in all my
days. He leaped on me without a word; something
shone in his hand; and he struck for my heart with a
dagger. At the same moment I knocked him head
over heels. Whether it was my quickness, or his own
uncertainty, 1 know not; but the blade only grazed my
shoulder while the hilt and his fist struck me violently
on the mouth.

I tied, but not far. I had often and often observed
the capabilities of the sand-hills for protracted ambush
or stealthy advances and retreats; and, not ten yards
from the scene of the scuffle, plumped down again
upon the grass. The lantern had fallen and gone out,
But what was my astonishment to see Northmour slip
at a bound into the p.ivilion, and hear him bar tbs
door behind him with a clang of iron!

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

He had not pursued me. He had run away. North-
mouT, whom I knew for the most implacable and dar-
ing of men, had run away! I could scarce believe my
reason; and yet in this strange business, where all was
incredible, there was nothing to make a work about in
an incredibility more or less. For why was the pavilion
secretly prepared ? Why had Northmour landed with
his guests at dead of night, in half a gale of wind, and
with the iloe scarce covered ? Why had he sought to
kill me ? Had he not recognized my voice ? I won-
dered. And, above all, how had he come to have a
dagger ready in his hand ? A dagger, or even a sharp
knife, seemed out of keeping with the age in which we
lived; and a gentleman landing from his yacht on the
shore of his own estate, even although it was at night
and with some mysterious circumstances, does not
usually, as a matter of fact, walk thus prepared for
deadly onslaught. The more I reflected, the further I
felt at sea, I recapitulated the elements of mystery,
counting them on my fingers: the pavilion secretly
prepared for guests; the guests landed at the risk of
their lives and to the imminent peril of the yacht; the
guests, or at least one of them, in undisguised and
seemingly causeless terror; Northmour with a naked
weapon; Northmour stabbing his most intimate ac-
cjuainCance at a word ; last, and not least strange,
Northmour llceing from the man whom he had sought
to murder, and barricading himself, like a hunted
creature, behind the door of the pavilion. Here were
at least six separate causes for extreme surprise; each
part and parcel with the others, and forming all to-
gether one consistent story. I felt almost ashamed
to believe my own senses.

As I thus stood transfixed with wonder, I began to
grow painfully conscious of the injuries I had received
in the scuffle; skulked round among the sand-hills;
and, by a devious path, regained the shelter of the
wood. On the way, the old nurse passed again within
several yards of me, still carrying her lantern, on the

THE PA VILION ON THE L/A'A'S.

return jouraey to the mansion-house of Graden, This
made a seventh suspicious feature in the case. North-
mour and his guests, it appeared, were to cook and do
the cleaning for themselves, while the old woman con-
tinued to inhabit the big empty barrack among the
policies. There must surely be great cause for
secresy, when so many inconveniences were confronted
to preserve it.

So thinking, I made my way to the den. For
greater security, 1 trod out the embers of the fire, and
lit my lantern to examine the wound upon my shoul-
der. It was a trifling hurt, although it bled somewhat
freely, and I dressed it as well as I could (for its
position made it difficult to reach) with some rag and
cold water from the spring. While I was thus busied,
I mentally declared war against Northmour and his
mystery. I am not an angry man by nature, and I
believe there was more curiosity than resentment in
my heart. But war I certainly declared; and, by way
of preparation, I got out my revolver, and, having
drawn the charges, cleaned and reloaded it with scru-
pulous care. Next I became preoccupied about my
horse. It might break loose, or fall to neighing, and
so betray my camp in the Sea-Wood. I determined

' to rid myself of its neighborhood; and long before
diiwn I was leading it over the links in the direction

f of \h-i fisher village.

TELLS HOW I BECAME ACQUAINTED WITH MY WIFE.

For two days I skulked round the pavilion, profiting
by the uneven surface of the links. I became an
adept in the necessary tactics. These low hillocks and
shallow dells, running one into another, became a kind
of cloak of darkness for my enthralling, but perhaps
dishonorable, pursuit. Yet, in spite of this advantage,
I could learn but little of Northmour or his guests.

Fresh provisions were brought under cover of dark-
ness by the old woman from the mansion-house,
Northmour, and the young lady, sometimes together,
but more often singly, would walk for an hour or two
at a time on the beach beside the quicksand. I could
not but conclude that this promenade was chosen with
an eye to secresy; for the spot was open only to the
seaward. But it suited me not less excellently; the
highest and most accidented of the sand-hills immedi-
ately adjoined; and from these, lying flat in a hollow,
I could overlook Northmour or the young lady as they
walked.

The tall man seemed to have disappeared. Not
only did he never cross the threshold, but he never so
much as showed face at a window; or, at least, not
so far as I could see; for I dared not creep forward
beyond a certain distance in the day, since the upper
floor commanded the bottoms of the links; and at
night, when 1 could venture farther, the lower windows
were barricaded as if to stand a siege. Sometimes I
thought the tall man must be confined to bed, for I
remembered the feebleness of his gait; and sometimes
I thought he must have gone clear away, and that
Northmour and the young lady remained alone

th£ pa vilion on the links.

>93

together in the pavilion. The idea, even then, dis-
pleased me.

Whether or not this pair were man and wife, I had
seen abundant reason to doubt the friendliness of their
relation. AUhough I could hear nothing of what they
said, and rarely so much as glean a decided expression
on the face of either, there was a distance, almost a
stiffness, in their bearing which showed them to be
either unfamiliar or at enmity. The girl walked faster
when she was with Northmour than when she was
alone; and I conceived that any inclination between a
man and a woman would rather delay than accelerate
the step. Moreover, she kept a good yard free of him,
and trailed her umbrella, as if it were a barrier, on the
side between them. Northmour kept sidling closer;
and, as the girl retired from his advance, their course
lay at a sort of diagonal across the beach, and would
have landed them in the surf had it been long enough
continued. But, when it was imminent, the girl would
unostentatiously change sides and put Northmour
between her and the sea, I watched these manceuvres,
for my part, with high enjoyment and approval, and
chuclded to myself at every move.

On the morning of the third day, she walked alone
for some time, and I perceived, to my great concern,
that she was more than once in tears. Von will see
that my heart was already interested more than I sup-
posed. She had a firm yet airy motion of the body,
and carried her head with unimaginable grace; every
step was a thing to look at, and she seemed in my eyes
to breathe sweetness and distinction.

The day was so agreeable, being calm and sunshiny,
with a tranquil sea, and yet with a healthful piquancy
and vigor in the air, that, contrary to custom, she was
tempted forth a second time to walk. On this occa-
sion she was accompanied by Northmour, and they had
been but a short while on the beach, when I saw him
take forcible possession of her hand. She struggled,
and utteraJ a cry that was almost a scream. I sprang

194 /fEiy ARABIAN NIGHTS.

to my feet, unmindful of my strange position; but, f
1 had taken a step, I saw Northmour bare-headed and
bowing very low, as if to apologize; and dropped again
at once into my ambush. A few words were inter-
changed; and then, with another bow, he left the beach
to return to the pavilion. He passed not far from me,
and I could see him, flushed and lowering, and cutting
savagely with his cane among the grass. It was cot
without satisfaction that I recognized my own handi-
work in a great cut under his right eye, and a consid-
erable discoloration round the socket.

For some time the girl remained where he had left
her, looking out past the Islet and over the bright sea.
Then with a start, as one who throws off preoccupation
and puts energy again upon its mettle, she broke into
a rapid and decisive walk. She also was much
incensed by what had passed. She had forgotten
where she was. And I beheld her walk straight into
the borders of the quicksand where it is most abrupt
and dangerous. Two or three steps farther and her
life would have been in serious jeopardy, when I slid
down the face of the sand-hill,which is there precipitous,
and, running half-way forward, called to her to stop.

She did so, and turned round. There was not a
tremor of fear in her behavior, and she marched
directly up to me like a queen. I was barefoot, and
clad like a common sailor, save for an Egyptian scarf
round my waist; and she probably took me at first for
some one from the fisher village, straying after bait.
As for her, when I thus saw her face to face, her eyes
set steadily and imperiously upon mine, I was filled
with admiration and astonishment, and thought her
even more beautiful than I had looked to find her.
Nor could I think enough of one who, acting with so
much boldness, yet preserved a maidenly air that was
both quaint and engaging; for my wife kept an old-
fashioned precision of manner through aU her admir-
able life — an excellent thing in woman, since it sell
another value on her sweet familiarities.

THE PA VILION- ON THE UNKS.

'9S

" she asked.

I told her, "directly into

"What does this ri

" You were walking,"
Grade n Floe,"

" You do not belong to these parts," she said again,
"You speak like an educated rnaa."

" I believe I have a right to that name," said I,
"although in this disguise."

But her woman's eye had already detected the sash,

" Oh ! " she said; " your sash betrays you."

" You have said the word betray" I resumed. " May
I ask you not to betray me ? I was obliged to disclose
myself in your interest; but if Northmour learned my
presence it might be worse than disagreeable for me,"

"Do you know," she asked, "to whom you are
speaking ? "

" Not to Mr. Northmour's wife ? " I asked, by way
of answer.

She shook her head. All this while she was study-
ing my face with an embarrassing intentness. Then
she broke out-—

" You have an honest face. Be honest hke your
face, sir, and tell me what you want and what you are
afraid of. Do you think I could hurt you ? I believe
you have far more power to injure me ! And yet you
do not look unkind. What do you mean — you, a gen-
tleman — by skulking hke a spy about this desolate
place ? Tell me," she said, " who is it you hate ? "

"I hate no one," I answered; "and I fear no one
face to face. My name is Cassilis — Frank Cassilis. I
lead the life of a vagabond for my own good pleasure.
1 am one of Northmour's oldest friends; and three
nights ago, when I addressed him on these links, he
stabbed me in the shoulder with a knife."

" It was you ! " she said.

"Why he did so," I continued, disregarding the
interruption, "is more than I can guess, and more
than I care to know. I have not many friends, nor
am I very susceptible to friendship; but no man shall
drive me from a place by terror, I had camped in

XEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

Graden Sea-Wood ere he came; I camp in it still. If
jou thinlc I mean harm to you or yooi^ madam, the
remedy is in your hand. Tell him that my camp is in
the Hemlock. Den, and to-night he can stab me in
safety while I sleep."

Ulth this I doSed my cap to her, and scrambled np
once more among the sand-hills, I do not know why,
but I felt a prodigious sense of injustice, and felt like
a hero and a martyr; while, as a matter of fact, I had
not a word to say in my defence, nor so much as one
plausible reason to offer for my conduct. I had
stayed at Graden out of a curiosity natural enough,
but undignified; and though there was another motive
growing in along with the first, it was not one which,
at that period, I could have properly explained to the
lady of my heart.

Certainiy, that night, I thought of no one else; and,
though her whole conduct and position seemed sus-
picious, I could not find it in my heart to entertain a
doubt of her integrity. I could have staked my life
that she was clear of blame, and, though all was dark
at the present, that the explanation of the mystery
would show her part in these events to be both right
and needful. It was true, let me cudgel ray imagina-
tion as I pleased, that I could invent no theory of her
relations to Northmour; but I felt none the less sure
of my conclusion because it was founded on instinct in
place of reason, and, as I may say, went to sleep that
night with the thought of her under my pillow.

Next day she came out about the same hour alone,
and, as soon as the sand-hills concealed her from the
pavilion, drew nearer to the edge, and called me by
name in guarded tones. I was astonished to observe
that she was deadly pale, and seemingly under the
influence of strong emotion.

" Mr. Cassilis ! " she cried ; " Mr. Cassilis ! "

I appeared at once, and leaped down upon the
beach. A remarkable air of relief overspread hel
countenance as soon as she saw me.

THE PA VILIQN ON THE LINKS.

'97

"Oh!" she cried, with a hoarse sound, like one
whose bosom has been lightened of weight. And then,
" Thank God, you are still safe \ " she added ; " I
knew, if you were, you would be here." (Was not
this strange ? So swiftly and wisely does Nature pre-
pare our hearts for these great life-long intimacies, that
both my wife and I had been given a presentiment on
this the second day of our acquaintance. I had even
then hoped that she would seek me ; she had felt sure
that she would find me.) "Do not," she went on
swiftly, "do not stay in this place. Promise me that
you will sleep no longer in that wood. You do not
know how I suffer ; all last night I could not sleep for
thinking of your peril,"

" Peril ? " I repeated. " Peril from whom ? From
Northmour?"

" Not so," she said. " Did you think I would tell
him after what you said ? "

"Not from Northmour ?" I repeated. "Then how?
From whom ? I see none to be afraid of."

"You must not ask me," was her reply, "for I am
not free to tell you. Only believe me, and go hence
— beheve me, and go away quickly, quickly, for your
life ! ■■

An appeal to his alarm is never a good plan to rid
oneself of a spirited young man. My obstinacy was
but increased by what she said, and I made it a point
of honor to remain. And her solicitude for my safety
still more confirmed me in the resolve.

" You must not think me inquisitive, madam," I
replied ; " but, if Graden is so dangerous a place, yon
yourself perhaps remain here at some risk."

She only looked at me reproachfully.

" You and your father ," I resumed ; but she

interrupted me almost with a gasp.

" My father 1 How do you know that ? " she cried.

"I saw you together when you landed," was my
answer ; and I do not know why, but it seemed satis-
factory to both of us, as indeed it was the truth.

■9S

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

"But," I continued, "you need have no fear from me
I see you have some reason to be secret, and, you
may believe me. your secret is as safe with me as if I
were in Graden Floe. I have scarce spoken to any-
one for years ; my borse is my only companion, and
even he, poor beast, is not beside me. You see, then,
you may couDt on me for silence. So tell me the
truth, my dear young lady, are you not in danger ? "

" Mr. Northmour says you are an honorable man,"
she returned, " and I beheve it when I see you. I will
tell you so much ; you are right ; we are in dreadful,
dreadful danger, and you share it by remaining where
you are."

"Ah ! " said I ; "you have heard of me from North-
mour ? And he gives me a good character ? "

" I asked him about you last night," was her reply.
" I pretended," she hesitated, "I pretended to have
met you long ago, and spoken to you of him. It was
not true ; but I could not help myself without betray-
ing you, and you had put me in a difficulty. He
praised you highly."

"And — you may permit me one question — does this
danger come from Northmour ? " I asked.

" From Mr. Northmour ? " she cried. " Oh, no ; he
stays with us to share it."

"While you propose that I should run away ?" I
said. " You do noi rate me very high."

" Why should you stay ' " she asked. "You are no
friend of ours."

I know not what came over me, for I had not been
conscious of a similar weakness since I was a child,
but I was so mortified by this retort that my eyes
pricked and filled with tears, as I continued to gaie
upon her face.

" No, no," she said, in a changed voice ; " I did not
mean the words unkindly."

" It was I who offended," I said ; and I held out
my hand with a look of appeal that somehow touched
her, for she gave me hers at once, and even eagerly. I

THE PA VTLION ON THE UNKS.

igg

held it for awhile in mine, and gazed into her eyes.
It was she who first tore her hand away, and, forget-
ting all about her request and the promise she had
sought to extort, ran at the top of her speed, and with-
out turning, till she was out of sight. And then I
knew that I loved her, and thought in my glad heart
that she — she herself — was not indifferent to my suit.
Many a time she has denied it in after days, but it was
with a smiling and not a serious denial. For my part.
I am sure our hands would not have lain so closely in
each other if she had not begun to melt to me already.
And, when all is said, it is no great contention, since,
by her own avowal, she began to love me on the mor-
row.

And yet on the morrow very little took place. She
came and called me down as on the day before,
upbraided me for lingering at Graden, and, when she
found I was still obdurate, began to ask me more par-
ticularly as to my arrival. I told her by what series of
accidents I had come to witness their disembarkation,
and how I had determined to remain, partly from the
interest which had been wakened in me by North-
mour's guests, and partly because of his own murder-
ous attack. As to the former, I fear I was disingenu-
ous, and led her to regard herself as having been an
attraction to me from the first moment that I saw her
on the links. It relieves my heart to make this con-
fession even now, when my wife is with God, and
already knows all things, and the honesty of my pur-
pose even in this ; for while she lived, although it often
pricked my conscience, I had never the hardihood to
undeceive her. Even a little secret, in such a married
life as ours, is like the rose-leaf which kept the Prin-
cess from her sleep.

From this the talk branched into other subjects, and
I told her much about my lonely and wandering exist-
ence ; she, for her part, giving ear, and saying little.
Although we spoke very naturally, and latterly on
topics that might seem indifferent, we were both sweetly

NEW ARABIA!^ NIGHTS.

agitated. Too soon it was time for her to go ; and we
separated, as if by mutual consent, without shaking
hands, for both knew that, between us, it was no idle
ceremony.

The next, and that was the fourth day of our
acquaintance, we met in the same spot, but early in
the morning, with much familiarity and yet much tim-
idity on either side. When she had once more spoken
about my danger — and that, I understood, was her
excuse for coming — I, who had prepared a great deal
of talk during the night, began to tell her how highly I
valued her kind interest, and how no one had ever
cared to hear about my life, nor had I ever cared to
relate it, before yesterday. Suddenly she interrupted
me, saying with vehemence —

"And yet, if you knew who I was, you would not so
much as speak to me ! "

I told her such a thought was madness, and, little as
we had met, I counted her already a dear friend ; but
my protestations seemed only to make her more des-
perate.

" My father is in hiding ! " she cried.

"My dear," I said, forgetting for the first time to
add young lady," " what do 1 care ? If he were in
hiding twenty times over, would it make one thought
of change in you ? "

" Ah, but the cause ! " she cried, " the cause 1 It is

" she faltered for a second — "it is disgraceful to

ua!"

CHAPTER rV.

TELLS IN WHAT A STARTLING MANNER I LEARNED
THAT I WAS NOT ALONE IN GRADEN SEA-WOOD.

This was my wife's story, as I drew it from her
among tears and sobs. Her name was Clara Huddle-
stone : it sounded very beautiful in my ears ; but not
so beautiful as that other name of Clara Cassilis, which
she wore during the longer and, I thank God, the hap-
pier portion of her life. Her father, Bernard Huddle-
stone, had been a private banker in a very large way
of business. Many years before, his affairs becoming
disordered, he had been led to try dangerous, and at
last criminal, expedients to retrieve himself from ruin.
All was in vain ; he became more and more cruelly
involved, and found his honor lost at the same moment
with his fortune. About this period, Northmour had
been courting his daughter with great assiduity, though
with small encouragement ; and to him, knowing him
thus disposed in his favor, Bernard Huddlestone turned
for help in his extremity. It was not merely ruin and
dishonor, nor merely a legal condemnation, that the
unhappy man had brought on his head. It seems he
could have gone to prison with a light heart. What he
feared, what kept him awake at night or recalled him
from slumber into frenzy, was some secret, sudden,
and unlawful attempt upon his life. Hence, he
desired to bury his existence and escape to one of the
islands in the South Pacific, and it was in Northmour's
yacht, the Red Earl, that he designed to go. The
yacht picked them up clandestinely upon the coast of
Wales, and had once more deposited them at Graden,
til! she could be refitted and provisioned for the longer
voyage. Nor could Clara doubt that her hand had

L.

30>

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

been stipulated as the price of passage. For, althot^^
Northtnour was neither unkind or discourteous, he had
shown himself in several instances somewhat overbold
in speech and manner.

I listened, I need not say, with fixed attention, and
put many questions as to the more mysterious part.
It was in vain. She had no clear idea of what the
blow was, nor of how it was expected to fall. Her
father's alarm was unfeigned and physically prostrat-
ing, and he had thought more than once of making
an unconditional surrender to the police. But the
scheme was finally abandoned, for he was convinced
that not even the strength of our English prisons could
shelter him from his pursuers. He had had many
affairs with Italy, and with Italians resident in London,
in the later years of his business; and these last, as
Clara fancied, were somehow connected with the doom
that threatened him. He had shown great terror at
the presence of an Italian seaman on board the Reii
Earl, and had bitterly and repeatedly accused North-
mour in consequence. The latter had protested that
Beppo (that was the seaman's name) was a capital fel-
low, and could be trusted to the death; but Mr. Hud-
diestone had continued ever since to declare that all
was lost, that it was only a question of days, and that
Beppo would be the ruin of him yet.

I regarded the whole story as the hallucination of a
mind shaken by calamity. He had suffered heavy loss
by his Italian transactions; and hence the sight of an
Italian was hateful to him, and the principal part in
his nightmare would naturally enough be played by
one of that nation.

" What your father wants," I said, " is a good doctor
and some calming medicine."

"But Mr, Northmour?"
" He is untroubled by losse
terror."

_ I could not help laughing at what I considered hel
simplicity.

' objected your mother,
i, and yet he shares in this

THE FA VILION ON THE LINKS.

a 03

" My dear," said I, " you have told me yourself what
reward he has to look for. All is fair in lovC) you
must remember; and if Northmour foments youi
father's terrors, it is not at all because he is afraid oi
any Italian man, but simply because he is infatuated
with a charming English woman,"

She reminded me cf his attack upon myself on the
night of the disembarkation, and this I was unable to
explain. In short, and from one thing to another, it
was agreed between us, that 1 should set out at once
for the fisher village, Graden Wester, as it was called,
look up all the newspapers I could find, and see for
myself if there seemed any basis of fact for these con-
tinued alarms. The next morning, at the same houi
and place, I was to make my report to Clara. She
said no more on that occasion about my departure;
nor indeed, did she make it a secret that she clung to
the thought 01 my proximity as something helpful and
pleasant; and, for my part, I could not have left her,
if she had gone upon her knees to ask it,

I reached Graden Wester before ten in the forenoon;
for in those days I was an excellent pedestrian, and
the distance, as I think I have said, was little over
seven miles; fine walking all the way upon the springy
turf. The village is one of the bleakest on that coast,
which is saying much; there is a church in a hollow,
a miserable haven in the rocks, where many boats have
been lost as they returned from fishing; two or three
score of stone houses arranged along the beach and-in
two streets, one leading from the harbor, and another
striking out from it at right angles; and, at the corner
of these two, a very dark and cheerless tavern, byway
of principal hotel.

I had dressed myself somewhat more suitably to ray
station in life, and at once called upon the minister in
his little manse beside the graveyard. He knew me,
although it was more than nine years since we had
met; and when I told him that I had been long upon
A walking tour, and was behind with the news, readily

A'£H' ARABIAN NIGHTS.

lent me an armful of newspapers, dating from a month
back to the day before. With these I sought the tav-
ern, and, ordering some breakfast, sat down to study
the "Huddlestone Failure."

It had been, it appeared, a very flagrant case.
Thousands of persons were reduced to poverty; and
one in particular had blown out his brains as soon as
payment was suspended. It was strange to myself
that, while I read these details, I continued rather to
sympathize with Mr. Huddlestone than with his vic-
tims; so complete already was the empire of my love
for my wife. A price was naturally set upon the
banker's head; and, as the case was inexcusable and
the public indignation thoroughly aroused, the unusual
figure of 750/. was oflered for his capture. He was
reported to have large sums of money in his posses-
sion. One day, he had been heard of in Spain; the
next, there was sure intelligence that he was still lurk-
ing between Manchester and Liverpool, or along the
border of Wales; and the day after, a telegram would
announce his arrival in Cuba or Yucatan. But in all
this there was no word of an Italian, nor any sign of
mystery.

In the very last paper, however, there was one item
not so clear. The accountants who were charged to
verify the failure had, it seemed, come upon the traces
of a very large number of thousands, which figured for
some time in the transactions of the house of Huddle-
stone ; but which came from nowhere, and disappeared
in the same mysterious fashion. It was only once
referred to by name, and then under the initials "X
X-" ; but it had plainly been floated for the first time
inlo the business at a period of great depression some
six years ago. The name of a distinguished Royal per-
sonage had been mentioned by rumor in connection
with this sum. "The cowardly desperado" — such, I
remember, was the editorial expression — was supposed
to have escaped with a large part of this mysterious
fund still in his possession.

THE PA VILION Off THE LINKS.

20S

I was still brooding over the fact, and trying to tor-
ture it into some connection with Mr. Huddlestone's
danger, when a man entered the tavern and asked for
some bread and cheese with a decided foreign accent,

" Siete Italiano ?" said I.

" SI sigtwr," was his reply.

I said it was unusually far north to find one of his
compatriots ; at which he shrugged his shoulders, and
replied that a man would go anywhere to find work.
What work he could hope to find at Graden Wester, I
was totally unable to conceive ; and the incident struck
so unpleasantly upon my mind, that I asked the land-
lord, while he was counting me some change, whether
he had ever before seen an Itahan in the village. He
said he had once seen some Norwegians, who had been
shipwrecked on the other side of Graden Ness and
rescued by the lifeboat from Cauld-haven.

" No !" said I ; " but an Italian, like the man who
has just had bread and cheese."

"What?" cried he, "yonblack-avised fellow wi* the
teeth ? Was he an I-talian ? Weel, yon's the first that
ever I saw, an' I dare say he's like to be the last."

Even as he was speaking, I raised my eyes, and,
casting a glance into the street, beheld three men in
earnest conversation together, and not thirty yards
away. One of them was my recent companion in the
tavern parlor ; the other two, by their handsome, sal-
low features and soft hats, should evidently belong to
the same race. A crowd of village children stood
around them, gesticulating and talking gibberish in
imitation. The trio looked singularly foreign to the
bleak dirty street in which they were standing, and the
dark graj' heaven that overspread them ; and I con-
fess my incredulity received at that moment a shock
from which it never recovered. I might reason with
myself as I pleased, but I could not argue down the
effect of what I had seen, and I began to share in the
Italian terror.

It was already drawing towards the close of the day

h.

3o6 /f£lV ARABIAN- NIGHTS.

before I had returned the newspapers at the mansi\
and got well forward on to the links on my way home.
I shall never forget that walk. It grew very cold and
boisterous ; the wind sang in the short grass about my
feet ; thin rain showers came running on the gusts ;
and an iramense mountain range of clouds began to
arise out of the bosom of the sea. It would be hard
to imagine a more dismal evening ; and whether it was
from these external influences, or because my nerves
were already affected by what I had heard and seen,
my thoughts were as gloomy as the weather.

The upper windows of the pavihon commanded a
considerable spread of links in the direction of Graden
Wester. To avoid observation, it was necessary to
hug the beach until I had gained cover from the
higher sand-hills on the little headland, when I might
strike across, through the hollows, for the margin of
the wood. The sun was about setting; the tide was
low, and all the quicksands uncovered ; and I was
moving along, lost in unpleasant thought, when I was
suddenly thunderstruck to perceive the prints of human
feet. They ran parallel to my own course, but low
down upon the beach instead of along the border of
the turf ; and, when I examined them, I saw at once,
by the size and coarseness of the impression, that it
was a stranger to me and to those in the pavilion who
had recently passed that way. Not only so ; but from
the recklessness of the course which he had followed,
steering near to the most formidable portions of the
sand, he was as evidently a stranger to the country and
to the ill-repute of Graden beach.

Step by step I followed the prints; until, a quarter
of a mile further, I beheld them die away into the
south-eastern boundary of Graden Floe. There, who-
ever he was, the miserable man had perished. One or
two gulls, who had, perhaps, seen him disappear,
wheeled over his sepulchre with their usual melancholy
piping. The sun had broken through the clouds by a
last effort, and colored the wide level of quicksands

TffE PA VILION ON- THE UNKS.

207

with a dusky purple. 1 stood for some time gazing at
the si)ot, chilled and disheartened by my own reflec-
tions, and with a strong and commanding conscious-
ness of death. I remember wondering how long the
tragedy had taken, and whether his screams had been
audible at the pavilion. And then, making a strong
resolution, I was about to tear myself away, when a
gust fiercer than usual fell upon this quarter of the
beach, and I saw noiv, whirling high in air, now skim-
ming lightly across the surface of the sands, a soft,
black, felt hat, somewhat conical in shape, such as 1
had remarked already on the heads of the Italians.

I believe, but I am not sure, that I uttered a cry.
The wind was driving the hat shoreward, and I ran
round the border of the floe to be ready against its
arrival. The gust fell, dropping the hat for a while
upon the quicksand, and then, once more freshening,
landed it a few yards from where I stood. I seized it
with the interest you may imagine. It had seen some
service; indeed, it was rustier ihan either of those I
had seen that day upon the street. The Uning was
red, stamped with the name of the maker, which I
have forgotten, and that of the place of manufacture,
Venedig. This (it is not yet forgotten) was the name
given by the Austrians to the beautiful city of Venice,
then, and for long after, a part of their dominions.

The shock was complete. I saw imaginary Italians
upon every side; and for the first, and, I may say, for
the last time in my experience, becarae overpowered by
what is called panic terror. I knew nothing, that is,
to be afraid of, and yet I admit that I was heartily
afraid; and it was with a sensible reluctance that 1
returned to my exposed and solitary camp in the Sea-
Wood.

There I ate some cold porridge which had been left
over from the night before, for I was disinclined to
make a fire; and, feeling strengthened and reassured,
dismissed all these fanciful terrors from my mind, and
lay down to sleep with composure.

L

3oS NEW ARABIAN A2CHTS.

How long I may have slept it is impossible for me
to guess; but I was awakened at last by a sudden,
blinding flash of light into my face. It woke me like
a blow. In an instant I was upon my knees. But the
light had gone as suddenly as it came. The darkness
was intense. And, as it was blowing great guns from
the sea and pouring with rain, the noises of the stonn
effectually concealed all others.

It was, I dare say, half a minute before I regained
my self-possession. But for two circumstances, I
should have thought I had been awakened by some
new and vivid fonn of nightmare. First, the flap of
my tent, which I had shut carefully when I retired.was
now unfastened; and, second, I could still perceive,
with a sharpness that excluded any iheory of halluci-
nation, the smell of hot metal and of burning oil. The
conclusion was obvious. I had been awakened by
some one flashing a bull's-eye lantern in my face. It
had been but a flash, and away. He had seen my
face, and then gone. I asked myself the object of so
strange a proceeding, and the answer tame pat. The
man, whoever he was, had thought to recognize me,
and he had not. There was yet another question un-
solved; and to this, I may say, I feared to give an
answer; if he had recoguized me, what would he have
done?

My fears were immediately diverted from myself, for
I saw that I had been visited in a mistake; and I be-
came persuaded that some dreadful danger threatened
the pavilion. It required some nerve to issue forth
into the black and intricate thicket which surrounded
and overhung the den; but I groped my way to the
links, drenched with rain, beaten upon and deafened
by the gusts, and fearing at every step to lay my hand
upon some lurking adversary. The darkness was so
complete that I might have been surrounded by an
army and yet none the wiser, and the uproar of the
gale so loud that my hearing was as useless as my
sight.

THM PA VILION ON THE LINKS. 209

For the rest of the night, which seemed interminably
long, I patroled the vicinity of the pavilion, without
seeing a living creature or hearing any noise but the
concert of the wind, the sea, and the rain. A light in
the upper story filtered through a cranny in the shut-
teTt aiul kept me company till the approach of dawn>

CHAPTER V.

TELLS OF AN INTERVIEW BETWEEN NOETHMOUR,
CLARA, AND MYSELF.

With the first peep of day, I retired from the open to
my old lair among the sandhills, there to await the
coming of my wife. The morning was gray, wild, and
melancholy ; the wind moderated before sunrise, and
then went about, and blew in puffs from the shore ; the
sea began to go down, but the rain still fell without
mercy. Over all the wilderness of links there was
not a creature to be seen. Yet I felt sure the
neighborhood was alive with skulking foes. The light
had been so suddenly and surprisingly flashed upon my
face as I lay sleeping, and the hat that had been blown
ashore by the wind from over Graden Floe, were two
speaking signals of the peril that environed Clara and
the party in the pavilion.

It was, perhaps, half-past seven, or nearer eight,
before I saw the door open, and that dear figure come
towards me in the rain. I was waiting for her on the
beach before she had crossed the sand-hills.

" I have had such trouble to come ! " she cried.
" They did not wish me to go walking in the rain."

" Clara," I said, " you are not frightened ! "

" No," said she, with a simplicity that filled my heart
with conlidence. For my wife was the bravest as well
as the best of women ; in my experience, I have not
found the two go always together, but with her they
did; and she combined the extremeof fortitude with the
most endearing and beautiful virtues.

I told her what had happened ; and, though her cheek
grew visibly paler, she retained perfect control over he(

■er ner ,

THE PAVILION 0/^ THE LINKS, air

" You see now that I am safe," said I in conclusion.
" They do not mean to harm me •, for, had they chosen,
I was a dead man last night,"

She laid her hand upon my arm.

" And I had no presentiment ! "she cried.

Her accent thrilled me with delight. I put my arm
about her, and strained her to my side ; and, before
either of us was aware, her hands were on my shoulders
and ray lips upon her mouth. Yet up to that moment
no word of love had passed between us. To this time
I remember the touch of her cheek, which was wet and
cold with the rain ; and many a time since, when she
has been washing her face, 1 have kissed it again for
the sake of that morning on the beach. Now that she
is taken from me. and I finish my pilgrimage alone,
I recall our old loving kindness and the deep honesty
and affection which united us, and my 'present loss
seems but a trifle in comparison.

We may have thus stood for some seconds — for time
passes quickly with lovers — before we were startled by
a peal of laughter close at hand. It was not natur^d
mirth, but seemed to be affected in order to conceal
an angrier feeling. We both turned, though I still kept
my left arm about Clara's waist ; nor did she seek to
withdraw herself ; and there, a few paces off upon tlie
beach, stood Northmour, his head lowered, his hands
behind his back, his nostrils white with pa,ssion.

" Ah ! Cassilis ! " he said, as I disclosed my face.

" That same," said I ; for I was not at all put about.

" And so, Miss Huddlestone," he continued slowly
but savagely, " this is how you keep your faith to your
father and to me ? This is the value you set upon
your father's life ? And you are so infatuated with this
young gentleman that you must brave ruin, and decencv,
and common human caution "

"Miss Huddlestone — " I was beginning to
interrupt him, when he, in his turn, cut in brutally —

" You hold your tongue," said he ; "I am speaking
to that girl."

3 1 J JfEfV ARABIAN NIGHTS.

"That girl, as you call her, is ray wife," said I:
my wife only leaned a little nearer, so that I knew she
had affirmed my words.

"Your what?" he cried. "You lie!"

" Northmour," I said, "we all know you have a bad
temper, and I am the last man to be irritated by words.
For all that, I propose that you speak lower, for I am
convinced that we are not alone."

He looked round him, and it was plain my remark
had in some degree sobered his passion. "What do
you mean ! " he asked.

I only said one word ; " Italians."

He swore a. round oath, and looked at us, from one
to the other.

" Mr. Cassilis knows all that I know," said my

" What I want to know," he broke out, " is where
the devil Mr. Cassilis comes from, and what the devil
Mr. Cassilis is doing here. You say you are married :
that I do not believe. If you were, Graden Hoe would

soon divorce y

; four minutes and a half Cassilis

I keep my pnvate cemetery for my friends."

"It tooksomewhat longer," said I, "for that Italian.'

He looked at me for a moment half daunted, and
then, almost civilly, asked me to tell my story. "You
have too much the advantage of me, Cassilis," he
added. I complied, of course : and he listened, with
several ejaculations, while I told him how I had come
to Graden ; that it was I whom he had tried to murder
on the night of landing ; and what I had subsequently
seen and heard of the Italians.

" Well," said he, when 1 had done, " it is here at
last ; there is no mistake about that. And what, aiay
I ask, do you propose to do } "

" I propose to stay with you and lend a hand," said I.

" You are a brave man," he returned, with a peculiai
intonation.

" I am not afraid," said I.

"And so," he continued, "I am to understand that

THE FA VILIQN ON THE LINKS.

you two are married ? And you stand up to it before
my face. Miss Huddlestone ? "

"We are not yet married," said Clara; "'but we
shall be as soon as we can."

" Bravo ! " cried Northmour. " And the bargai
D — n it, you're not a fool, young woman ; I may call
a spade a spade with you. How about the bargi '
You know as well as I do what your father's lire
depends upon. I have only to put my hands under
my coat-tails and walk away, and his throat would be
cut before the evening."

" Yes, Mr. Northmour," returned Clara, with great
spirit ; " but that is what you will never do. You made
a bargain that was unworthy of a gentleman ; but you
are a gentleman for all that, and you will never desert a
man whom you have begun to help."

" Aha ! " said he. " You think T will give my yacht
for nothing ? You think I will risk my life and liberty
for love of the old gentleman ; and then, I suppose,
be best man at the wedding, to wind up ? Well," he
added, with an odd smile, " perhaps you are not
altogether wrong. But ask Cassilis here. He knows
me. Am I a man to trust ? Am I safe and scrupu-
lous ? Am I kind?"

" I know you talk a great deal, and sometimes, I
think, very foolishly," replied Clara, " but I know you
are a gentleman, and I am not in the least afraid."

He looked at her with a peculiar approval and admi-
ration ; then, turning to me, " Do you think I would
give her up without a struggle, Frank ? " said he. " I
tell you plainly, you look out. The next time we come
to blows "

"Will make the third," I interrupted, smiling.

" Aye, true ; so it will," he said. " I had forgotten.
Well, the third time's lucky."

" The third time, you mean, you will have the crew
of the Red Earl to help," I said.

'■ Do you hear him ? " he asked, turning to ray wife.

" I hear two men speaking like cowards," said she.

L

214 AiW ARABIA!^ NIGHTS.

" I should despise myself either to think or speak like
that. And neither of you helieve one word that you
are saying, which makes it the more wicked and silly."
" She's a Crump .' " cried Northmour. " But she's
not yet Mrs. Caasilis. I say no more. The present is

Then my wife surprised me,

" I leave you here," she said suddenly. " Myfather
has been too long alone. But remember this r you are
to be friends, for you are both good friends to me,"

She has since told me her reason for this step. As
long as she remained, she declares that we two would
have continued to quarrel ; and I suppose that she
was right, for when she was gone we fell at once into
a sort of confidentiality.

Northmour stared after her as she went away over
the sand-hill.

" She is the only woman in the world I " he exclaimed
with an oath. " Look at her action,"

I, for my part, leaped at this opportunity for a little
further light.

"See here, Northmour," said I; "we are all in a
tight place, are we not ? "

"I believe you, my boy," he answered, looking me
in the eyes, and with great emphasis. " We have ail
hell upon us, that's the truth. You may believe me
or not, but I'm afraid of my hfe,"

" Tell me one thing," said I, " What are they after,
these Italians ? What do they want with Mr. Huddle-

" Don't you know?" he cried, "The black old
scamp had carbonarv funds on a deposit — two hundred
and eighty thousand ; and of course he gambled it
away on stocks. There was to have been a revolution
in the Tridentino, or Parma ; but the revolution is off,
and the whole wasp's ntst is after Huddlestone. We
shall ail be lucky if we can save our skins."

"The carbonariV X exclaimed: "God help hin
indeed \ " ^^^

THE PA VI LI ON ON THE LINKS. 21$

**Amen!" said Northmour. "And now, look
here: I have said that we are in a fix ; and, frankly, I
shall be glad of your help. If I can't save Huddle-
stone, I want at least to save the girl. Come and stay
in the pavilion ; and, there's my hand on it, I shall
act as your friend until the old man is either clear or
dead. But," he added, "once that is settled, you
become my rival once again, and I warn you — mind
yourself."

" Done ! " said I ; and we shook hands.

"And now let us go directly to the fort," said
Northmour ; and he began to lead the way through
the rain.

CHAPTER VI.

TELLS OF MY INTRODUCTION TO THE TALL MAN,"

We were admitted to the pavilion by Clara, and I
was surprised by the completeness and security of the
defences. A barricade of great strength, and yet
easy to displace, supported the door against any vio-
lence from without ; and the shutters of the dining-
room, into which I was led directly, and which was
feebly illuminated by a lamp, were even more elabo'
rately fortified. The panels were strengthened by
bars and cross-bars ; and these, in their turn, were
kept in position by a system of braces and struts, some
abutting on the floor, some on the roof, and others, in
fine, against the opposite wall of the apartment. It
was at once a solid and well-designed piece of carpen-
try ; and I did not seek to conceal my admiration.

"I am the engineer," said Northmour. "Yoa
planks in the garden ? Behold

,ny talents," said I.
ratinued, pointing to an
admirable order, which

remember
them?

" I did not know you had si

"Are you armed?" h
array of guns and pistols,
stood in line against the wall or were displayed upon
the sideboard.

"Thank you," I returned ; "I have gone armed
since our last encounter. But, to tell you the truth,
I have had nothing to eat since early yesterday
evening. "

Northmour produced some cold meat, to which I
eagerly set myself, and a bottle of good Burgundy, by
which, wet as I was, I did not scruple to profit. I
have always been an extreme temperance man on prin-
ciple ; but it is useless to push principle to excess,
sod en this occasion I believe that I finished three-

3l6

THE PA VI LION ON THE LINKS. 217

quarters of the bottle. As I ate, I still continued to
admire the preparations for defence.

" We could stand a siege," I said at length.

"Y e - ■ e s," drawled Northmour ; "a very little one,
per — haps. It is not so much the strength of the
paviHon I misdoubt ; it is the double danger that kills
me. If we get to shooting, wild as the country is some
one is sure to hear it, and then — why then it's the same
thing, only different, as they say, caged by law, or
killed by carbonari. There's the choice. It is a devil-
ish bad thing to have the law against you in this
world, and so I tell the old gentleman up stairs. He is
quite of my way of thinking."

" Speaking of that," said I, " what kind of person
is he."

"Oh, he?" cried the other; "he's a rancid fellow
as far as he goes. I should like to have his neck
wrung to-morrow by all the devils in Italy. I am not
in this affair for him. Vou take me ? I made a bar-
gain for Missy's hand and I mean to have it too."

"That, by the way," said I, "I understand. But
how will Mr. Huddlestone take my intrusion ? "

"Leave that to Clara," returned Northmour.

I could have struck him in the face for this coarse
familiarity ; but I respected the truce, as, I am bound to
say, did Northmour, and so long as the danger con-
tinued not a cloud arose in our relation. I bear him
this testimony with the most unfeigned satisfaction;
nor am I without pride when I look back upon my own
behavior. For surely no two men were ever left in a
position so invidious and irritating.

As soon as I had done eating, we proceeded to
' inspect the lower floor. Window by window we tried
the different supports, now and then making an incon-
siderable change ; and the strokes of the hammer
sounded with startling loudness through the house. I
proposed, I remember, to make loopholes ; but he
told me they were already made in the windows of the
upper story. It was an anxious business this inspection.

3l8

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

and left me down-hearted. There were two doors S
five windows to protect, and, counting Clara, only-
four of us to defend them against an unknown number
of foes. I communicated my doubts to Nortlimoiir,
who assured me, with unmoved composure, that he
entirely shared them.

" Before morning," said he, " we shall all be butch-
ered and buried in Graden Floe. For me, that is
written."

I could not help shuddering at the mention of the
quicksand, but reminded Northmour that our enemies
had spared me in the wood.

"Do not flatter yourself," said he. "Then you
were not in the same boat with the old gentleman;
now you are. It's the floe for all of us, mark my
words."

I trembled for Clara; and just then her dear voice
was heard calhng us to come upstairs. Northmour
showed me the way, and, when he had reached the
landing, knocked at the door of what used to be called
My Uncle's Bedroom, as the founder of the pavilion
had designed it especially for himself.

" Come in, Northmour; come in, dear Mr. Cassilis,"
said a voice from within.

Pushing open the door, Northmour admitted me
before him into the apartment. As I came in I could
see the daughter slipping out by the side door into the
study, which had been prepared as her bedroom. In
the bed, which was drawn back against the wall, instead
of standing, as I had last seen it, boldly across the
window, sat Bernard Huddlestone, the defaulting
banker. Little as I had seen of him by the shifting
light of the lantern on the links, I had no difficulty in
recognizing him for the same. He had a long and
sallow countenance, surrounded by a long red beard
and side-whiskers. His broken nose and high cheek-
bones gave him somewhat the air of a Kalmuck, and
his light eyes shone with the excitement of a high
fever. He wore a skull-cap of black silk; a huge

THE PA V'lLIO.V ON THE LINKS. 1 1 9

Bible lay open before him on the bed, with a pair of
gold spectacles in the place, and a pile of other books
lay on the stand by hif side. The green curtains lent
acadaverous shade to his cheek; and, as he sat propped
on pillows, his great siature was painfully hunched, and
his head protruded till it overhung his knees. I bebeve
if he had not died otherwise, he must have fallen a
victim to consumption in the course of but a very few
weeks.

He held out to me a hand, long, thin, and disagree-
ably hairy.

' Come in, come in, Mr. Cassilis," said he- '' Another
protector — ahem ! — another protector. Always wel-
come as a friend of my daughter's, Mr. Cassilis. How
they have rallied about me, my daughter's friends I
May God in heaven bless and reward them for it ! "

I gave him my hand, of course, because I could not
help it; but the sympathy I had been prepared to feel
for Clara's father was immediately soured by his
appearance, and the wheedling, unreal tones in which
he spoke.

" Cassilis is a good man," said Northmour; "worth
ten."

"So I hear," cried Mr. Huddlestonc eagerly; "so
my girl tells me. Ah, Mr. Cassilis, my sin has found
me out, you see ! I am very low, very low; but I hope
equally penitent. We must all come to the throne of
grace at last, Mr. Cassihs. For my part, I come late
indeed; but with unfeigned humility, I trust."

" Fiddle-de-dee ! " said Northmour roughly.

"No, no, dear Northmour !" cried the banker. "You
must not say that; you must not try to shake me. You
forget, ray dear, good boy, you forget I may be called
this very night before my Maker,"

His excitement was pitiful to behold; and I felt
myself grow indignant with Northmour, whose infidel
opinions I well knew, and heartily derided, as he con-
tinued to taunt the poor sinner out of his humor of
repentance-

aao A'£ W ARABIAN NIGHTS.

" Pooh, my dear Huddlestone ! " said he, " You do
yourself injustice. You are a man of the world inside
and out, and were up to all kinds of mischief before I
was born. Your conscience is tanned like South
American leather — on!y you forgot to tan your liver,
and that, if you will believe me, is the seat of the
annoyance."

" Rogue, rogue ! bad boy ! " said Mr, Huddlestone,
shaking his finger. " I am no precisian, if you come
to that ; I always hated a precisian ; but I never lost
hold of something better though it all. I have been
a bad boy, Mr. Cassilis ; I do not seek to deny that ;
but it was after my wife's death, and you know, with a
widower, it's a different thing : Sinful— I won't say no,
but there is a gradation, we shall hope. And talking

of that Hark ! " he broke out suddenly, his hand

raised, his fingers spread, his face racked with interest
and terror. ' Only the rain, bless God ! '' he added,
after a pause, and with indescribable relief.

For some seconds he lay back among the pillows
like a man near to fainting ; then he gathered himself
together, and, m somewhat tremulous tones, began once
more to thank me for the share I was prepared to take
in his defence.

" One question, sir," said I, when he had paused,
" Is it true that you have money with you ?"

He seemed annoyed by the question, but admitted
with reluctance that he had a httle.

"Well," I continued, "it is their money they are
after, is it not ? Why not give it up to them ?"

"Ah ! " replied he, shaking his head, "I have tried
that already, Mr. Cassilis; and alas 1 that it should be
so, but it is blood they want."

"Huddlestone, that's a little less than fair," said
Northmour. "You should mention that what you
offered them was upwards of two hundred thousand
short. The deficit is worth a reference; it is for what
they call a cool sum, Frank. Then, you see, the fel-
lows reason in their clear Italian way; and it seems ta

THE FA VJUON ON THE LINKS. a 2 1

them, as indeed it seems to me, that they may just at
well have both while they are about it — money and
blood together, by George, and no more trouble for the
extra pleasure."

" Is it in the pavilion ? " I asked.

"It is ; and I wish it was in the bottom of the sea
instead," said Northmour; and then suddenly — "What
are you making faces at me for ?" he cried to Mr. Hud-
dlestone, on whom I had unconsciously turned my
back. " Do you think Cassilis would sell you ?"

Mr. Huddlestone protested that nothing had been
further from his mind.

"It is a good thing," retorted Northmour in his
ugliest manner. "You might end by wearying us.
What were you going to say?" he added, turning to
me.

"I was going to propose an occupation for the after-
noon," said I. " Let us carry that money out, piece by
piece, and lay it down before the pavilion door. If the
carbonari cotae, why, it's theirs at any rate."

"No, no," cried Mr. Huddlestone; "it does not, it
cannot belong to them ! It should be distributed fro
rata among all my creditors."

" Come, now, Huddlestone." said Northmour, " none
of that."

"Well, but my daughter," moaned the wretched

" Your daughter will do well enough. Here are two
Buitors, Cassilis and I, neither of us beggars, between
whom she has to choose. And as for yourself, to
make an end of arguments, you have no right to a
farthing, and, unless I'm much mistaken, you are going
to die,"

It was certainly very cruelly said ; but Mr. Huddle-
stone was a man who attracted little sympathy ; and,
although I saw him wince and shudder, I mentally
endorsed the rebuke j nay, I added a contribution of

I my own.

^■^^Notthmour and I," I said, "are wiUlng enough to

991 NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

help you to save your life, but not to escape with stolen
property."

He struggled for a while with himself, as though he
were on the point of giving way to anger, but prudence
had the best of the controversy.

" My dear boys," he said, " do with me or my money
what you will. I leave all in your hands. Let me com-
pose myself."

And so we left him, gladly enough I am sure. The
last that I saw, he had once more taken up his great
Bible, and with tremulous hands was adjusting his
spectacles to read.

CHAPTER VII.

TELLS HOW A WORD WAS CRIED THROUGH THE
PAVILION WINDOW.

The recollection of that afternoon will always be
graven on my mind. Northmour and I were persuaded
that an attack was imminent; and if it had been in our
power to alter in any way the order of events, that
power would have been used to precipitate rather than
delay the critical moment. The worst was to be antic-
ipated ; yet we could conceive no extremity so
miserable as the suspense we were now suffering, I
have never been an eager, though always a great, reader;
but I never knew books so insipid as those which I
took up and cast aside that afternoon in the pavilion.
Even talk became impossible, as the hours went on.
One or other was always listening for some sound, or
peering from an upstairs window over the links. And
yet not a sign indicated the presence of our foes.

We debated over and over again my proposal with
regard to the money; and had we been in complete pos-
session of our faculties, I am sure we should have con-
demned it as unwise ; but we were flustered with
alarm, grasped at a straw, and determined, although
was as much as advertising Mr. Huddlestone's pres-
ence in the pavilion, to carry my proposal into effect.

The sum was part in specie, part in bank paper, and
part in circular notes, payable to the name of James
Gregory. We took it out, counted it, enclosed it once
more in a despatch-box belonging to Norlhmour, and
prepared a letter in Italian which he tied to the handle.
It was signed by both of us under oath, and declared
that this was all the money which had escaped the
failure of the house of Huddleatonc. This was, per-

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

haps, the maddest action ever perpetrated by two per-
sons professing to be sane. Had the despalch-boi
fallen into other hands than those for which it was
intended, we stood criminally convicted on our own
written testimony ; but, as I have said, we were neither
of us in a condition to judge soberiy, and had a thirst
for action that drove us to do something, right or
wrong, rather than endure the agony of waiting.
Moreover, as we were both convinced that the hollows
of the links were alive with hidden spies upon our
movements, we hoped that our appearance with the
box might lead to a parley, and, perhaps, a com-
promise.

It was nearly three when we issued from the
pavilion. The rain had taken off; the sun shone
quite cheerfully. I have never seen the gulls fly so
close about the house or approach so fearlessly to
human beings. On the very doorstep one flapped
heavily past our heads, and uttered its wild cry in ray
very ear.

' There is an omen for you," said Norlhmour,
who like all freethinkers was much under the influ-
ence of superstition. "They think we are already
dead."

I made some Hght rejoinder, but it was with half
my heart ; for the circumstance had impressed me,

A yard or two before the gate, on a patch of smooth
turf, we set down the despatch box ; and Northmour
waved a white handkerchief over bis head. Nothing
replied. We raised our voices, and cried aloud in
Italian that we were there as ambassadors to arrange
the quarrel ; but the stillness remained unbroken save
by the sea-gulls and the surf. I had a weight at my
heart when we desisted ; and I saw that even North-
mour was unusually pale. He looked over his shoulder
nervously, as though he feared that some one had crept
between him and the'pavilion door.

" By God," he said in a whisper, " this is too much
for me I "

THE PA VILIO.V O.V THE LINKS.

I replied in the same key: "Suppose there should
be none, after all ! "

"Look there," he returaed, nodding with his head,
as though he had been afraid to point.

I glanced in the direction indicated ; and there,
from the northern corner of the Sea-Wood, beheld a
thin column of smoke rising steadily against the now
cloudless sky.

"Northmour," I said (we still continued to talk in
whispers), "it is not possible to endure this suspense.
I prefer death fifty times over. Stay you here to watch
the paviUon ; I will go forward and make sure, if I
have to walk right into their camp."

He looked once again all around him with puckered
eyes, and then nodded assent ingly to my proposal.

My heart beat likfi a sledge-hammer as I set out
walking rapidly in the direction of the smoke ; and
though up to that moment I had felt chill and shiver-
ing, 1 was suddenly conscious of a glow of heat over
all my body. The ground in this direction was very
uneven ; a hundred men might have lain hidden in as
many square yards about my path. But I had not prac-
ticed the business in vain, chose such routes as cut at
the very root of concealment, and, by keeping along
the most convenient ridges, commanded several hol-
lows at a time. It was not long before I was rewarded
for my caution. Coming suddenly on to a mound
somewhat more elevated than the surrounding hum-
mocks I saw, not thirty yards away, a man bent almost
double, and running as fast as his attitude permitted,
along the bottom of a gully. I had dislodged one of
the spies from his ambush. As soon as I sighted him,
I called loudly both in English and Italian; and he,
seeing concealment was no longer possible, straight-
ened himself out, leaped from the gully, and made
off as straight as an arrow for the borders of the

It was none of my business to pursue; I had leame'^
what 1 wanted— that we were beleaguered and watched

936

NE fV ARABIAN NIGHTS.

in the pavilion; and I returned at once, and walk!] _
as nearly as possible in my old footsteps, to where
Northmour awaited me beside the despatch-box. He
was even paler than when I had left him, and his v oia
shook a little.

" Could you see what he was like ? " he asked.

" He kept his back turned," I repHed,

"Let us go into the house, Frank. I don't til
I'm a coward, but I can stand no more of this," he
whispered.

All was still and sunshiny about the pavilion as we
turned to re-enter it; even the gulls had flown in a
wider circuit, and were seen flickering along the beach
and sand-hills; and this loneliness terrified me more
than a regiment ijnder arms. It was not until the door
was barricaded that I could draw a full inspiration and
reheve the weight that lay upon my bosom. North-
mour and I exchanged a steady glance; and I suppose
each made his own reflections on the white and
startled aspect of the other.

''You were right," I said. "All is over. Shake
hands, old man, for the last time."

" Yes, " replied he, " I will shake hands; for. as surf
as I am here, I bear no malice. But, remember, if, b]*
some impossible accident, we should give the slip Iff
these blackguards, I'll take the upper hand of you \>f
fair or foul."

" Oh," said I, " you weary me."

He seemed hart, and walked away in silence to the
foot of the stairs, where he paused.

"You do not rmderstand me," said he, "I am not a
swindler, and I guard myself; that is a!!. It may
weary you or not, Mr. Cassilis, I do not care a rush; I
speak for my own satisfaction, and not for your amuse-
ment. You had better go upstairs and court the girl;
for my part, I stay here."

" And I stay with you," I returned, " Do you think
I would steal a march, even with your permission?"

" Frank," he said, smiling, " it's a pity you are an

THE PA VILION ON THE lmJC.% ai;

ass, for you have the makings of a man. I think I
must be/i^ to-day ; you cannot irritate me, even when
you try. Do you know," he continued softly, " I think
we are the two most miserable men in England, you and
I ? we have got on to thirty without wife or child, or so
much as a shop to look after — poor, pitiful, lost devils,
both ! And now we clash about a girl ! As if there
were not several millions in the United Kingdom !
Ah, Frank, Frank, the one who loses his throw, be it
you or me, he has my pity ! It were belter for him —
how does the Bible say ? — that a millstone were hanged
about his neck and he were cast into the depth of the
sea. Let us take a drink," he concluded suddenly,
but without any levity of tone.

I was touched by his words, and consented. He sat
down on the table in the dining-room, and held up the
glass of sherry to his eye.

" If you beat me, Frank," he said, " I shall take to
drink. What will you do, if it goes the other way ? "

"God knows," I returned.

"Well," said he, "here is a toast in the meantime :
* Italia irredenta ! ' "

The remainder of the day was passed in the same
dreadful tedium and suspense, I laid the table for
dinner, while Northmour and Clara prepared the meal
together in the kitchen. I could hear their talk as I
went to and fro, and was surprised to find it ran all
the time upon myself. Northmour again bracketed ns
together, and rallied Clara on a choice of husbands ;
but he continued to speak of me with some feeling, and
uttered nothing to my prejudice unless he included
himself in the condemnation. This awakened a sense
of gratitude in my heart, which combined with the
immediateness of our peril to fill my eyes with tears.
After all, I thought — and perhaps the thought was
laughably vain — we were here three very noble human
beings to perish in defense of a thieving banker.

Before we sat down to table, I looked forth from an
upstairs window. The day was beginning to decline ;

1>8 HEW AKABIAN EIGHTS.

the links were wtterly deserted; the despatch-box ^
lay untouched where we had left it hours before.

Mr. Huddlestone, in a long yellow dressing-gown,
took one end of the table, Clara the other; while North-
mour and I faced each other from the sides. The
lamp was brightly trimmed; the wine was good; the
viands, although mostly cold, excellent of their sort.
We seemed to have agreed tacitly; all reference to the
impending catastrophe was carefully avoided; and,
considering our tragic circumstances, we made a mer-
rier party than could have been expected. From time
to time, it is true, Northmour or I would rise from the
table and make a round of the defences; and, on each
of these occasions Mr. Huddlestone was recalled to a
sense of his tragic predicament, glanced up with
ghastly eyes, and bore for an instant on his counten-
ance the stamp of terror. But he hastened to empty
his glass, wiped his forehead with his handkerchief,
and joined again in the conversation.

I was astonished at the wit and information he dis-
played. Mr. Huddlestone's was certainly no ordinary
character; he had read and observed for himself; his
gifts were sound; and, though I could never have
learned to love the man, I began to understand
his success in business, and the great respect
in which he had been held before his failure. He had,
above all, the talent of society; and though I never
heard him speak but on this one and most unfavorable
occasion, I set him down among the most brilliant
conversationalists I ever met.

He was relating with great gusto, and seemingly no
feeling of shame, the manceuvres of a scoundrelly
commission merchant whom he had known and stud-
ied in his youth, and we were all listening with an odd
mixture of mirth and embarrassment, when our little
party was brought abruptly to an end in the most
startling manner.

A noise like that of a wet finger on the window-pane
interrupted Mr. Huddlestone's tale ; and in an instant

THE PAVIUON ON THE LINKS. 229

we were all four as white as paper, and sat tongue-tied
and motionless round the table.

" A snail," I said at last ; for I had heard that these
animals make a noise somewhat similar in character.

"Snail be d — d !" said Northmour. "Hush !"

The same sound was repeated twice at regular inter-
vals ; and then a formidable voice shouted through the
shutters the Italian word " Tradtlore !"

Mr. Huddlestone threw his head in the air ; his
eyelids quivered ; next moment he fell insensible below
the table. Northmour and I had each run to the arm-
ory and seized a gun. Clara was on her feet with her
hand at her throat.

So we stood waiting, for we thought the hour of
attack was certainly come ; but second passed after
second, and all but the surf remained silent in the
neighborhood of the pavilion.

' Quick," said Northmour ; " upstairs with him
before they come."

Somehow or other, by hook and crook, and between
the three of us, we got Bernard Huddleslone bundled
upstairs and laid upon the bed in Afy Umle's Jieom.
During the whole process, which was rough enough, he
gave no sign of consciousness, and he remained, as we
had thrown him, without changing the position of a
finger. His daughter opened his shirt and began to
wet his head and bosom ; while Northmour and I ran
to the window. The weather continued clear ; the
moon, which was now about full, had risen and shed a
very clear hght upon the links ; yet, strain our eyes as
we might, we could distinguish nothing moving. A few
dark spots, more or less, on the uneven expanse were
not to be identified ; they might be crouching men,
they might be shadows ; it was impossible to be
sure.

"Thank God," said Northmour, "Aggie is not
coming to-night."

Aggie was the name of the old nurse ; he had not
thought of her till now ; but that he should think of
her at all, was a trait that surprised me in the man.

We were again reduced to waiting. Northmour went
to the fireplace and spread his hands before the red
embers, as if he were cold. I followed him mechan-
ically with ray eyes, and in so doing turned my back
upon the window. At that moment a very faint report
was audihle from without, and a ball shivered a pane
of glass, and buried itself in the shutter two inches
from my head. I heard Clara scream ; and though I
whipped instantly out of range and into a comer, she
was there, so to speak, before me, beseeching to know
if I were hurt. I felt that I could stand to be shot at
every day and all day long, with such marks of soUci-
330

THE PA VILION ON THE LINKS.

23»

L

■nde for a reward ; and I continued to reassure her,
*ith the tenderest caresses and in complete forgetful-
ness of our situation, till the voice of Northmour
recalled me to myself.

'' An air-gun," he said. " They wish to make no

I put Clara aside, and looked at him. He was stand-
ing with his back to the fire and his hands clasped
behind him ; and I knew by the black look on his face,
that passion was boiling within. I had seen just such
a look before he attacked me, that March night, in the
adjoining chamber ; and, though I could make every
allowance for his anger, I confess I trembled for the
consequences. He gazed straight before him ; but he
could see us with the tail of his eye, and his temper
kept rising like a gale of wind. With regular battle
awaiting us outside, this prospect of an internecine strife
within the walls began to daunt mc.

Suddenly, as 1 was thus closely watching his expres-
sion and prepared against the worst, I saw a change, a
flash, a look of relief, upon his face. He took up the
lamp which stood beside him on the table, and turned
to us with an air of some excitement.

" There is one point that we must know," said he.
" Are they going to butcher the lot of us, or only
Huddlestone ? Did they take you for him, or tire at you
for your own beaux yefitxV

" They took me for him, for certain," I replied. " I
am near as tall, and my head is fair."

" I am going to make sure," returned Northmour ;
and he stepped up to the window, holding the lamp
above his head, and stood there, quietly affronting
death, for half a minute.

Clara sought to rush forward and pull hira from the
place of danger ; but I had the pardonable selfishness
to hold her back by force.

"Yes," said Northmour, turning coolly from the
window ; " it's only Huddlestone they want,"

" Oh, Mr, Northmour ! " cried Clara ; but found no

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

\ to add ; the temerity she had just witnessed
McnuDg beyond the reach of words.

He, on his part, looked at me, cocking his head,
with a fire of triumph io his eyes ; and I understood
ax ooce that he had thus hazarded his life, merely to
Attract Clara's notice, and depose me from my position
as the hero of the hour. He snapped his fingers.

" The fire is only beginning," he said. " When they
warm up to their work, they won't be so particular."

A voice was now heard haihng us from the entrance.
From the window we could see the figure of a man in
the moonlight ; he stood motionless, his face uplifted
to ours, and a rag of something white on his extended
arm ; and as we looked right down upon him, though
he was a good many yards distant on the links, we
could see the moonlight glitter on his eyes.

He opened his lips again, and spoke for some min-
utes on end, in a key so loud that he might have been
heard in every comer of the pavilion, and as far away
as the borders of the wood. It was the same voice
that had already shouted " Traditore!" through the
shutters of the dining-room ; this time it made a com-
plete and clear statement. If the traitor " Oddlestone "
were given up, all others should be spared ; if not, no
one should escape to tell the tale.

"Well, Huddlestone, what do you say to that?"
asked Northmour, turning to the bed.

Up to that moment the banker had given no sign of
life, and I, at least, had supposed him to be still lying
in a faint ; but he replied at once, and in such tones
as I have never heard elsewhere, save from a delirious
patient, adjured and besought us not to desert him.
It was the most hideous and abject performance that
my imagination can conceive.

" Enough," cried Northmour ; and then he threw
Open the window, leaned out into the night, and in a
lone of exultation, and with a total forgetfuiness of
what was due to the presence of a iady, poured out
upon the ambassador a string of ths most abominable

THE PA VILION ON THE UNKS.

233

raillery both in English and Italian, and bade him
be gone where he had come from. I believe that
nothing so delighted Northraour at that moment as
the thought that we must all infallibly perish before
the night was out.

Meantime the Italian put his flag of truce into his
pocket, and disappeared, at a leisurely pace, among
the sand-hills.

"They make honorable war," said Northmour.
"They are all gentlemen and soldiers. For the credit
of the thing, I wish we could change sides — you and I,
Frank, and you too. Missy my darling — and leave that
being on the bed to some one else. Tut ! Don't look
shocked! We are all going post to what they call
eternity, and may as well be above-board while there's
time. As far as I'm concerned, if I could first strangle
Huddlestone and then get Clara in my arms, I could
die with some pride and satisfaction. And as it is, by
God, I'll have a kiss ! "

Before I could do anything to interfere, he had
rudely embraced and repeatedly kissed the resisting
girh Next moment I had pulled him away with fury,
and flung him heavily against the wall. He laughed
loud and long, and I feared his wits had given way
under the strain ; for even in the best ot days lie had
been a sparing and a quiet laugher,

"Now, Frank," said he, when his mirth was some-
what appeased, "it's your turn. Here's my hand.
Good-bye; farewell!" Then, seeing me stand rigid
and indignant, and holding Clara to my side — " Man ! "
he broke out, " are you ani^ry ? Did you think we
were going to die with all the airs and graces of
society ? I took a kiss ; I'm glad I had it ; and now
you can take another if you like, and square accounts."

I turned from him with a feeling of contempt which
I did not seek to dissemble.

" As you please," said he, " You've been a prig in
life ; a prig you'll die."

And with that he sat down in a chair, a rifle ovet

»34

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

the knee, and amused himself with snapping the h
but I could see that his ebullition of light spirits (the
only one I ever knew him to display) had already
come to an end, and was succeeded by a sullen, scowl-
ing humor.

All this time our assailants might have been entering
the house, and we been none the wiser ; we had in
truth almost forgotteti the danger that so imminently
overhung our days. But just then Mr. Huddlestone
uttered a cry, and leaped from the bed.

I asked him what was wrong.

" Fire ! " he cried. " They have set the house on
fire ! "

Northmour was on his feet in an instant, and he and
I ran through the door of communication with the
study. The room was illuminated by a red and angry
light. Almost at the moment of our entrance, a tower
of flame arose in front of the window, and, with a
tingling report, a pane fell inwards on the carpet
They had set fire to the lean-to out-house, where
Northmour used to nurse his negatives.

"Hot work," said Northmour. "Let us try layour
old room."

We ran thither in a breath, threw up the casement,
and looked forth. Along the whole back wall of the
pavilion piles of fuel had been arranged and kindled;
and it is probable they had been drenched with min-
eral oil, for, in spite of the morning's rain, they all
burned bravely. The fire had taken a firm hold
already on the outhouse, which blazed higher and
higher every moment; the back door was in the centre
of a red-hot bonfire; the eaves we could see, as we
looked upward, were already smouldering, for the roof
overhung, and was supported by considerable beams of
wood. At the same time, hot, pungent, and choking
volumes of smoke began to fill the house. There was
not a human being to be seen to right or left.

" Ah, well ! " said Northmour, " here's the en4
thank God."

THE PA VILION ON THE LINKS.

'35

And we returned to My Uncle's Room. Mr. Hud*
diestone was putting on his boots, still violently
trembling, but with an air of determination such as I
had not hitherto observed. Clara stood close by him,
with her cloak in both hands ready to throw about her
shoulders, and a strange look in her eyes, as if she were
half hopeful, half doubtful of her father.

"Well, boys and girls," said Northmour, "how
about a sally ? The oven is heating; it is not good to
stay here and be baked; and, for my part, I want to
come to my hands with them, and be done."

"There is nothing else left," I replied.

And both Clara and Mr. Huddlestone, though with
a very different intonation, added, " Nothing."

As we went downstairs the heat was excessive, and
the roaring of the fire filled our ears; and we had
scarce reached the passage before the stairs window
fell in, a branch of flame shot brandishing through the
aperture, and the interior of the pavilion became lit
up with that dreadful and fluctuating glare. At the
same moment we heard the fall of something heavy
and inelastic in the upper story. The whole pavilion,
it was plain, had gone alight like a box of matches,
and now not only flamed sky-high to land and sea, but
threatened with every moment to crumble and fall in
about our ears.

Northmour and I cocked our revolvers, Mr. Hud-
dlestone, who had already refused a firearm, put us
behind him with a manner of command.

" Let Clara open the door," said he. " So, if they
fire a volley, she will be protected. And in the mean-
time stand behind me. I am the scapegoat; my sins
have found me out."

I heard him, as I stood breathless by his shoulder,
with my pistol ready, pattering off prayers in a tremu-
lous, rapid whisper; and I confess, horrid as the
thought may seem, I despised him for thinkingof sup-
plications in a moment so critical and thrilling. In
the meantime, Clara, who was dead white but still

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

possessed her faculties, had displaced the barricade
from the front door. Another moment, and she had
pulled it open. Firelight and moonlight illuminated
the links with confused and changeful lustre, and far
away against the sky we could see a long trail of glow-
ing smoke.

Mr. Huddlestone, filled for the moment with a
strength greater than his own, struck Northmour and
myself a back-hander in the chest; and while we were
thus for the moment incapacitated from action, lifting
his anns above his head like one about to dive, he ran
straight forward out of the pavilion.

" Here am I ! " he cried — " Huddlestone ! Kill me,
and spare the others ! "

His sudden appearance daunted, I suppose, our
hidden enemies; for Northmour and I had time to
recover, to seize Clara between us, one by each arm,
and to rush forth to his assistance, ere anything
further had taken place. But scarce had we passed
the threshold when there came near a dozen reports
and flashes from every direction among the hollows of
the links. Mr, Huddlestone staggered, uttered a
weird and freezing cry, threw up his arms over his
head, and fell backward on the turf.

" Traditore ! Traditore ! " cried the invisible
avengers.

And just then, a part of the roof of the pavilion fell
in, so rapid was the progress of the fire. A loud,
vague, and horrible noise accompanied the collapse,
and a vast volume of flame went soaring up to heaven.
It must have been visible at that moment from twenty
miles out at sea, from the shore at Graden Wester, and
far inland from the peak of Graystiel, the most eastern
summit of the Caulder Hills. Bernard Huddlestone,
although God knows what were his obsequies, had 4
fine pyre at the moment of his death.

CHAPTER IX.

TELLS HOW NORTHMOUR CARRIED C

■ HIS THREAT.

I should have the greatest difRculty to tell you what
followed next after this tragic circumstance. It is all
to me, as I look back upon it, mixed, strenuous, and
ineffectual, like the struggles of a sleeper in a night-
mare. Clara, I remember, uttered a broken sigh and
would have fallen forward to earth, had not North-
mour and I supported her insensible body. I do
not think we were attacked ; I do not remember
even to have seen an assailant ; and I believe we
deserted Mr. Huddlestone without a glance. I only
remember running like a man in a panic, now car-
rying Clara altogether in my own arms, now shar-
ing her weight with Northmour, now scuffling con-
fusedly for the possession of that dear burden.
Why we should have made for my camp in the
Hemlock Den, or how we reached it, are points lost
for ever to my recollection. The first moment at
which I became definitely sure, Clara had been suffered
to fall against the outside of my little tent, Northmour
and I were tumbling together on the ground, and he,
with contained ferocity, was striking for my head with
the butt of his revolver. He had already twice
wounded me on the scalp; and it is to the consequent
loss of blood that I am tempted to attribute the sud-
den clearness of my mind.

I caught him by the wrist.

"Northmour," I remember saying, "you can kill
me afterwards. Let us first attend to Clara."

He was at that moment uppermost. Scarcely had

the words passed my lips, when he had leaped to his

feet and ran towards the tent; and the next moment,

237

NRW ARABIAN IflCHTS.

be was draining Clara to lus faeart and covering hei
unconscious hands and face with his caresses.

" Shame ! " I cried. " Shame to you, Northmour ! "

And, giddy though I still was, I struck him
repeatedly upon the head and shoulders.

He relinquished his grasp, and faced me in the
broken moonlight.

'' I had you under, and let you go," said he; " and
now you strike me \ Coward ! "

" You are the coward," I retorted- " Did she wish
your kisses while she was sdll sensible of what she
wanted ? Not she ! And now she may be dying; and
you waste this precious time, and abuse her heipness-
ness. Stand aside, and )et me help her."

He confronted me for a moment, white and mena-
cing; then suddenly he stepped aside.

" Help her then," said he.

I threw myself on my knees beside her, and loos-
ened, as well as 1 was able, her dress and corset; but
while 1 was thus engaged, a grasp descended on taf
shoulder,

"Keep your hands off her," said Northmour
fiercely. " Do you think I have no blood in my
veins ? "

" Northmour," I cried, " if you will neither help her
yourself, nor let me do so, do you know that I shall
have to kill you ? "

" That is better ! " he cried. " Let her die also,
Where's the harm ? Step aside from that girl I and
stand up to fight."

" You will observe," said I, half-rising, " that I have
not kissed her yet,"

" I dare you to," he cried,

I do not know what possessed me ; it was one of
the things I am most ashamed of in my life, though, as
my wife used to say, I knew that my kisses would be
always welcome were she dead or living; down I fell
again upon my knees, parted the hair from her fore*
head, and, with the dearest respect, laid my lips for a

J A-

TlfE PA VILION ON THE LINKS.

239

moment on that cold brow. It was such a -caress as 2
father might have given; it was such a one as was not
unbecoming from a man soon to die to a woman
already dead,

"And now," said I, "I am at your service, Mr.
Nor thin our."

But I saw, to my surprise, that he had turned his
back upon me.

' Do you hear ? " I asked,

" Yes," said he, " I do. If you wish to fight, I am
ready. If not, go on and save Clara. AH is one to
me,"

I did not wait to be twice bidden; but, stooping
again over Oara, continued my efforts to revive her.
She still lay white and lifeless; I began to fear that her
sweet spirit had indeed fled beyond recall, and horror
and a sense of utter desolation seized upon my heart,
I called her by name with the most endearing inflec-
tions; I chafed and heather hands; now I laid her
head low, now supported it against my knee; but all
seemed to be in vain, and the lids still lay heavy on
her eyes,

" Northmour," I said, "there is my hat. For God's
sake bring some water from the spring,"

Almost in a moment he was by my side with the
water.

" I have brought it in my own," he said. "You do
not grudge me the privilege ? "

" Northmour," I was beginning to say, as 1 laved
her head and breast; but he interrupted me savagely.

" Oh, you hush up ! " he said, " The best thing you
can do is to say nothing."

I had certainly no desire to talk, my mind being
swallowed up in concern for my dear love and her
condition; so I continued in silence to do my best
towards her recovery, and, when the hat was empty,
returned it to him, with one word — " More." He
had, perhaps, gone several times upon this errand,
when Qatu reopened her eyes.

240

X£iy ARABIAN NIGHTS.

" Now," said he, " since she is better, yon can spare
me, can you aot ? I wish you a good night, Mr.

And with that he was gone among the thicket. I
made a fire, for I had now no fear of the Italians, who
had even spared all the little possessions left in my
encampment; and, broken as she was by the excite-
ment and the hideous catastrophe of the evening, I
managed, in one way or another — by persuasion,
encouragement, warmth, and such simple remedies as
I could lay my hand on — to bring her back to some
composure of mind and strength of body.

Day had already come, when a sharp " Hist ! "
sounded from the thicket. I started from the ground;
but the voice of Northmour was heard adding, in the
most tranquil tones: "Come here, Cassilis, and alone;
I want to show you something."

1 consulted Clara with my eyes, and, receiving her
tacit permission, left her alone, and clambered out of
the den. At some distance off I saw Northmour lean-
ing against an elder; and, as soon as he perceived me,
he began walking seaward. I had almost overtaken
him as he reached the outskirts of the wood.

"Look," said he, pausing.

A couple of steps more brought me out of the foli-
age. The light of the morning lay cold and clear over
that well-tnown scene. The pavilion was but a black-
ened wreck; the roof had fallen in, one of the gables
had fallen out; and, far and near, the face of the links
was cicatrized with little patches of burnt furze. Thick
smoke still went straight upwards in the windless air
of the morning, and a great pile of ardent cinders
filled the bare walls of the house, like coals in an open
grate. Close by the islet a schooner yacht lay to, and
a well-manned boat was pulling vigorously for the shore.

" The Jied Earl! " I cried. " The J?eJ Earl twelve
hours too late ! "

" Feel in your pocket, Frank. Are you armed ? '
asked Northmour.

-I k-

THE PA VILION ON THE LINKS.

241

s the links to meet

where Mr. Hitd-
s no sign of him, nor

I obeyed him, and I think I must have become
deadly paie. My revolver had been taken from me.

"Vou see I have you in my power," he continued,
" I disarmed you last night while you were nursing
Clara; but this morning — here — take your pistol. No
thanks ! " he cried, holding up his hand. " I do not
like them; that is the only way you can annoy me
now."

He began to walk forward acros
the boat, and I followed a step (
front of the pavilion I paused to s
diestone had fallen; but there 'v
so much as a trace of blood.

"Graden Floe," said Northmour.

He continued to advance till we had come to the
head of the beach.

"Nofarther, please," said he, "Would you like to
take her to Graden House ? "

"Thank you," replied I; "I shall try to get her to
the minister's at Graden Wester."

The prow of the boat here grated on the beach, and
a sailor jumped ashore with a line in his hand.

" Wait a minute, lads ! " cried Northmour; and then
lower and to my private ear: "You had better say
nothing of all this to her," he added.

" On the contrary ! " I broke out, " she shall know
everything that I can tell. "

"You do not understand," he returned, with an air
of great dignity. "' It will be nothing to her; she
expects it of me. Good-bye ! " he added, with a nod.

I offered him my hand.

"Excuse me," said he. " It's small, I know; but I
can't push things quite so far as that. I don't wish
any sentimental business, to sit by your hearth awhite-
haired wanderer, and all that. Quite the contrary: I
hope to God I shall never again clap eyes on either
one of you."

" Well, God bless you, Northmour ! " I said heartily.

" Oh, yes," he returned.

J4' A'fff ARABIAN NIGJiTS.

He walked down the beach; and the man who was
ashore gave him an arm on board, and then shoved
off and leaped into the bows himself. Northmour
took the tiller; the boat rose to the waves, and the
oars between the thole-pins sounded crisp and n:ieas-
ured in the air.

They were not yet half way to the Hed Marl, and I
was still watching their progress, when the sun rose
out of the sea.

One word more, and my story is done. Years after,
Northmour was killed fighting under the colors oi
Garibaldi for the liberarion of TyroL

r

A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT:

A STORY OF FRANCIS VILLON.

A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT.

IT was late in November, 1456. The snow fell over
Paris with rigorous, relentless persistence ; some-
times the wind made a sally and scattered it in flying
vortices ; sometimes there was a lull, .i.id flake after
flake descended out of the black night air, silent, cir-
cuitous, interminable. To poor people, looking up
under moist eyebrows, it seemed a wonder where it all
came from. Master Francis Villon had propounded
an alternative that afternoon, at a tavern window ; was
it only Pagan Jupiter plucking geese upon Olympus?
or were the holy angels moulting ? He was only a poor
Master of Arts, he went on ; and as the question some-
what touched upon divinity, he durst not venture to
conclude. A silly old priest from Montargis, who was
among the company, ireated the young rascal to a
bottle of wine in honor of the jest and grimaces with
which it was accompanied, and swore on his own white
beard that he had been just such another irreverent
dog when he was Villon's age.

The air was raw and pointed, but not far below
freezing; and the flakes were large, damp, and adhe-
sive. The whole city was sheeted up. An army
might have marched from end to end and not a foot-
fall given the aJarra. If there were any belated birds
in heaven, they saw the island like a large white patch,
and the bridges like slim white spars, on the black
ground of the river. High up overhead the snow set-
tled among the tracery of the cathedral towers. Many
a niche was drifted full ; many a statue wore a long
white bonnet on its grotesque or sainted head. The
gargoyles had been transformed into great false noses,
drooping towards the point. The crockets were like

L.

>45

=46

A'£ W ARABIAN NIGHTS.

upright pillows swollen on one side. In the intervals
of the wind, there was a dull sound of dripping about
the precincts of the church.

The cemetery of St. John had taken its own share
of the snow. All the graves were decently covered;
tall white housetops stood around in grave array;
worthy burghers were long ago in bed, be-nightcapped
like their domiciles ; there was no light in all the
neighborhood but a little peep from a lamp that hung
swinging in the church choir, and tossed the shadows
to and fro in time to its oscillations. The clock was
hard on ten when the patrol went by with halberds
and a lantern, beating their hands ; and they saw
nothing suspicious about the cemetery of St. John.

Yet there was a small house, backed up against the
cemetery wall, which was still awake, and awake to
evil purpose, in that snoring district. There was not
much to betray it from without ; only a stream of
warm vapor from the chiraney-lop, a patch where the
snow melted on the roof, and a few half -obi iterated
footprints at the door. But within, behind the shut-
tered windows, Master Francis Villon the poet, and
some of the thievish crew with whom he consorted,
were keeping the night alive and passing round the
bottle.

A great pile of living embers diffused a strong and
ruddy glow from the arched chimney. Before this
straddled Dom Nicolas, the Picardy monk, with his
skirts picked up and his fat legs bared to the comfort-
able warmth. His dilated shadow cut the room in
half ; and the firelight only escaped on either side of
his broad person, and in a little pool between his out-
spread feet. His face had the beery, bruised appear-
ance of the continual drinker's ; it was covered with
a network of congested veins, purple in ordinary cir-
cumstances, but now pale violet, for even with his
back to the fire the cold pinched him on the other
side. His cowl had half fallen back, and made i
Etrange excrescence on either side of his bull n

^ LODGING FOR THE NIGHT. 247

So he straddled, grumbling, and cut the room in half
with the shadow of his portly frame.

On the right, Villon and Guy Tabary were huddled
together over a scrap of parchment ; Villon making a
ballade which he was to call the "Ballade of Roast
Fish," and Tabary spluttering admiration at his shoul-
der. The poet was a rag of a man, dark, little, and
lean, with hollow cheeks and thin black locks. He
carried his four-and-twenty years with feverish anima-
tion. Greed had made folds about his eyes, evil^
smiles had puckered his mouth. The wolf and pig S.
struggled together in his face. It was an eloquent, sharp, ]
ugly, earthly countenance. His hands were small and '
prehensile, with fingers knotted like a cord ; and they
were continually flickering in front of him in violent
and expressive pantomime. As for Tabary, a broad,
complacent, admiring imbecility breathed from his
squash nose and slobbering lips : he had become a
thief, just as he might have become the most decent of
burgesses, by the imperious chance that rules the lives
of human geese and human donkeys.

At the monk's other hand, Montigny and Thevenin
Pensete played a game of chance. About the first
there clung some flavor of good birth and training, as
about a fallen angel; something long, lithe, and courdy
in the person; something aquiline and darkling in the
face. Thevenin, poor soul, was in great feather: he had
done a good stroke of knavery that afternoon in the
Faubourg St. Jacques, and all night he had been gain-
ing from Montigny. A flat smile illuminated his face;
his bald head shone rosily in a garland of red curls;
his little protuberant stomach shook with silent chuck-
lings as he swept in his gains.

Doubles or quits ?" said Thevenin.

Montigny nodded grimly.

'^ Some may prefer to dine in state" wrote Villon,
"0/j bread and cheese on silver plate. Or, or— help
me out, Guido ! "

Tiibary giggled.

348

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

" Or parsley on a golden dish," scribbled the pon

The wind was freshening without; it drove the snow
before it, and somerimes raised its voice in a victorious
whoop, and made sepulchral grumblings in the chim-
ney. The coid was growing sharper as the night went
on. Villon, protruding his lips, imitated the gast with
something between a whistle and a groan. It was an
eerie, uncomfortable talent of the poets, much detested
by the Picardy monk.

" Can't you hear it rattle in the gibbet ? " said Vil-
lon. " They are all dancing the devil's jig on nothing,
up there. You may dance, my gallants, you'll be none
the warmer! Whew! what a gust ! Down went some-
body just now ! A medlar the fewer on tbe three-
legged medlar-tree! — I say, Dom Nicolas, it'll be cold
to-night on the St. Denis Road ? " he asked.

Dom Nicolas winked both bis big eyes, and seemed
to choke upon his Adam's apple. Montfaucon, tbe great
^isly Paris gibbet, stood hard by the St. Denis Road,
and the pleasantry touched him on tbe raw. As for
Tabary, he laughed immoderately over the medlars;
he had never heard anything move light-hearted; and
he held his sides and crowed. Villon fetched him a
fillip on the nose, which turned his mirth into an
attack of coughing.

" Oh, stop that row," said Villon, " and think of
rhymes to 'fish.' "

" Doubles or quits," said Montigny doggedly.

"With all my heart," quoth Thevenin.

" Is there any more in that bottle ? " asked the monk.

"Open another," said Villon. "How do you ever
hope to fill that big hogshead, your body, with little
things like bottles ? And bow do you expect to get to
heaven ? How many angels, do you fancy, can be
spared to carry up a single monk from Picardy ? Or
do yon think yourself another Elias — and they'll send
the coach for you?"

" Hominibus impossibiU," replied the monk as he
filled his glass.

J LODGING FOR THE NIGHT.

a4y

Tabary was in ecstasies,

Villon filliped his nose again.

" Laugh at my jokes, if you like," he said

" It was very good," objected Tabary.

Villon made a face at him. " Think of rhymes to
I'fish,' " he said. "What have you to do with Latin ?
You'll wish you knew none of it at the great assizes,
when the devil calls for Guido Tabary, clericus — the
devi! with the hump-back and red-hot finger-nails.
Talking of the devil," he added in a whisper, "look
at Montigny !"

All three peered covertly at the gamester. He did
not seem to be enjoying his luck. His mouth was a
little to a side; one nostril nearly shut, and the other
much inflated. The black dog was on his back, as
people say, in terrifying nursery metaphor; and he
breathed hard under the gruesome burden.

"He looks as if he could knife him," whispered
Tabary, with round eyes.

The monk shuddered, and turned his face and
spread his open hands to the red embers. It was the
cold that thus aficcted Dom Nicolas, and not any
excess of moral sensibility.

" Come now," said Villon — " about this ballade.
How does it run so far?" And beating time with hia
hand, he read it aloud to Tabary,

They were interrupted at the fourth rhyme by a
brief and fatal movement among the gamesters. The
round was completed, and Thevenin was just opening
his mouth to claim another victory, when Montigny
leaped up, swift as an adder, and stabbed him to the
heart. The blow took effect before he had time to
utter a cry, before he had time to move. A tremor or
two convulsed his frame; his hands opened and shut,
his heels rattled on the floor; then his head rolled
backward over one shoulder with the eyes wide open,
and Thevenin Pensete's spirit had returned to Him
who made it.

Everyone sprang to his feet; but the business was

B50 NEiV ARABIAN NIGHTS.

over in two twos. The four living fellows looked at
each other in rather a ghastly fashion; the dead man
contemplating a corner of the roof with a singular and
ugly leer.

" My God ! " said Tabary; and he began to pray in

_v Villon broke out into hysterical laughter. He came
/a. step forward and ducked a ridiculous bow at Theve-
nin, and laughed still louder. Then he sat down sud-
denly, all of a heap, upon a stool, and continued
laughing bitterly as though he would shake hims»ilf to
pieces,

Montigny recovered his composure first,

"Let's see what he has about him," he remarked,
and he picked the dead man's pockets with a prac-
ticed hand, and divided the money into four equal
portions on the table. "There's for you," he said.

The monk received his share with a deep sigh, and
a single stealthy glance at the dead Thevenin, who
was beginning to sink into himself and topple side-
ways off the chair.

'We're all in for it," cried Villon, swallowing his
mirth. " It's a hanging job for every man jack of us
that's here— not to speak of those who aren't." He
made a shocking gesture in the air with his raised
right hand, and put out his tongue and threw his head
on one side, so as to counterfeit the appearance of one
who has been hanged. Then he pocketed his share of
the spoil, and executed a shuffle with his feet as if to
restore the circulation.

Tabary was the last to help himself ; he made a dash
at the money, and retired to the other end of the
apartment.

Montigny sluck Thevenin upright in the chair, and
drew out the dagger, which was followed by a jet of
blood.

" You fellows had better be moving," he said, as he
wiped the blade on his victim's doublet.

'' T <■\,\■r^r a-o v=A •• returned Villon, with a gulp

''I think '

A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT.

" Damn his fat head !" he broke out. " It sticks in
my throat like phlegm. What right has a man to have
red hair when he is dead ?" And he fell all of a heap
again upon the stool, and fairly covered his face with
his hands.

Montigny and Dom Nicolas laughed aloud, even
Tabary feebly chiming in.

" Cry baby," said the monk.

" I always said he was a woman," added Montigny,
with a sneer. " Sit up, can't you ?" he went on, giv-
ing another shake to the murdered body. " Tread out
that fire, Nick !"

But Nick was better employed; he was quietly tak-
ing Villon's purse, as the poet sat, limp and trembling,
on the stool where he had been making a ballade not
three minutes before. Montigny and Tabary dumbly
demanded a share of the booty, which the monic
silently promised as he passed the little bag into the
bosom of his gown. In many ways an artistic nature ^ -
unfits a man for practical existence.

No sooner had the theft been accomplished thar. Vil-
lon shook himself, jumped to his feet, and began
helping to scatter and extinguish the embers. Mean-
while Montigny opened the door and cautiously peered
into the street. The coast was clear ; there was no
meddlesome patrol in sight. Still it was judged wiser
to slip out severally ; and as Villon was himself in a
hurry to escape from the neighborhood of the dead
Thevenin, and the rest were in a still greater hurry to
get rid of him before he should discover the loss o£
his money, he was the first by general consent to issue
forth into the street.

The wind had triumphed and swept all the clouds
from heaven. Only a few vapors, as thin as moon-
light, fleeted rapidly across the stars. It was bitter
cold; and by a common optical effect, things seemed
almost more definite than in the broadest daylight.
The sleeping city was absolutely still; a company of
white hoods, a field full of little alps, below the twink-

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

ling stars. Villon cursed his fortune. Would it were
still snowing ! Now, wherever he went, he left an
indelible trail behind him on the glittering streets ;
wherever he went he was still tethered to the house by
the cemetery of St. John ; wherever he went he must
weave, with his own plodding feet, the rope that bound
him to the crime and would bind him to the gallows.
The leer of the dead man came back to him with a
new significance. He snapped his fingers as if to pluck
up his own spirits, and choosing a street at random,
stepped boldly forwaid in the snow.

Two things preoccupied him as he went ; the aspect
of the gallows at Montfaucon in this bright, windy
phase of the night's existence, for one ; and for
another, the look of the dead man with his bald head
and garland of red curls. Both struck cold upon his
heart, and he kept quickening his pace as if he could
escape from unpleasant thoughts by msre fieetness of
foot. Sometimes he looked back over his shoulder
with a sudden nervous jerk ; but he was the only mov-
ing thing in the white streets, except when the wind
swooped round a corner and threw up the snow, which
was beginning to freeze, in spouts of glittering dust.

Suddenly he saw, a long way before him, a black
clump and a couple of lanterns. The clump was in
motion, and the lanterns swung as though carried by
men walking. It was a patrol. And though it was
merely crossing his line of march he judged it wiser
to get out of eyeshot as speedily as he could. He was

I not in the humor to be challenged, and he was con-
^ 1 scious of making a very conspicuous mark upon the

\ snow. Just on his left hand there stood a great hotel,
some turrets and a large porch before the door ;
s half-ruinous, he remembered, and had long stood
CTipty ; and so he made three steps of it, and jumped
in'.o the shelter of the porch. It was pretty dark inside,
alter the glimmer of the snowy streets, and he was
groping forward with outspread hands, when he stum-
bled over some substance which offered an indescriba-

A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT. 853

ble mixture of resistances, hard and soft, firm and
loose. His heart gave a leap, and he sprang two steps
back and stared dreadfully at the obstacle. Then he/
gave a little laugh of relief. It was only a woman, and '
she dead. He knelt beside her to make sure upon
this latter point. She was freezing cold, and rigid like
a stick. A litde ragged finery fluttered in the wind
about her hair, and her cheeks had been heavily
rouged that same afternoon. Her pockets were quite
empty ; but in her stocking, underneath the garter,
Villon found two of the small coins that went by the
name of whites. It was little enough ; but it was
always something ; and the poet was moved with a
deep sense of pathos that she should have died before
she had spent her money. That seemed to him a dark
and pitiable mystery; and he looked from the coins in
his hand to the dead woman, and back again to the
coins, shaking his head over the riddle of man's life.
Henry V. of England, dying at Vincennes just after
he had conquered France, and this poor jade cut off
by a cold draught in a great man's doorway, before she
had time to spend her couple of whites — it seemed a
cruel way to carry on the world. Two whites would
have taken such a little while to squander ; and yet it
would have been one more good taste in the mouth,
one more smack of the lips, before the devil got the
soul, and the body was left to birds and vermin. He
would like to use all his tallow before the light was
blown out and the lantern broken.

While these thoughts were passing through his mind,
he was feeling, half mechanically, for his purse. Sud-
denly his heart stopped beating; a feeling of cold
scales passed up the back of his legs, and a cold blow
seemed to fall upon his scalp. He stood petrified for
a moment ; then he felt again with one feverish move-
ment ; and then his loss burst upon him, and he was
covered at once with perspiration. To spendthrifts
money is so hving and actual — it is such a thin veil
between them and their pleasures ! There is only one

L

ii

*54

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

limit to their fortune — that of time ; and a spendtm
with only a few crowns is the Emperor of Rome until
they are spent. For such a person to lose his money
is to suffer the most shocking reverse, and fall from
heaven to hell, from all to nothing, in a breath. And
all the more if he has put his head in (he halter for it ;
if he may be hanged to-morrow for tliat same purse,
so dearly earned, so foolishly departed ! Villon stood
and cursed ; he threw the two whites into the street;
he shook his fist at heaven ; he stamped, and was not
horrified to find himself trampling the poor corpse.
Then he began rapidly to retrace his steps towards the
house beside the cemetery. He had forgotten all fear
of the patrol, which was long gone by at any rate, and
had no idea but that of his lost purse. It was in vain
that he looked right and left upon the snow : nothing
was to be seen. He had not dropped it in the streets.
Had it fallen in the house? He would have liked
dearly to go in and see ; but the idea of the grisly
occupant unmanned him. And he saw besides, as he
drew near, that their efforts to put out the fire had
been unsuccessful ; on the contrary, it had broken inio
a blaze, and a changeful light played in the chinks of
door and window, and revived his terror for the author-
ities and Paris gibbet.

He returned to the hotel with the porch, and groped
about upon the snow for the money he had thrown
away in his childish passion. But he could only find
one white ; ihe other had probably struck sideways
and sunk deeply in. With a single white in his pocket,
all his projects for a rousing night in some wild tavern
vanished utterly awny. And it was not only pleasure
that fled laughing from his grasp ; positive discomfort,
positive pain, attacked him as he stood ruefully before
the porch. His perspiration had dried upon him ; and
although the wind had now fallen, a binding frosl
was setting in stronger with every hour, and he felt
benumbed and sick at heart. What was to be done?
Late as was the hour, improbable as was s

A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT.

-S3

would try the house of his adopted father, the chaplain
of St. Benolt.

He ran there all the way, and krocked timidly.
There was no answer. He knocked again and again,
taking heart with every stroke ; and at last steps were
heard approaching from within. A barred wicket fell
open in the iron-studded door, and emitted a gush of
yellow light.

" Hold up your face to the wicket," said the chaplain
from within.

" It's only me," whimpered Villon.

"Oh, it's only you, is it? "returned the chaplain;
and he cursed him with foul unpriestly oaths for dis-
turbing him at such an hour, and bade him be off to
hell, where he came from,

" My hands arc blue to the wrist," pleaded Villon;
"my feet are dead and full of twinges; my nose aches
with the sharp air; the cold lies at my heart, I may
be dead before morning. Only this once, father, and J
before God, I will never ask again! "

"You should have come earlier," said the ecclesi-
astic coolly, "Young men require a lesson now and
then." He shut the wicket and retired deliberately
into the interior of the house.

Villon was beside himself; he beat upon the door
with his hands and feet, and shouted hoarsely after the
chaplain.

" Wormy old fox .' ' he cried, " If I had my hand
under your twist, I would send you flying headlong
into the bottomless pit."

A door shut in the interior, faintly audible to the
poet down long passages. He passed his hand over
nis mouth with an oath. And then the humor of the
situation struck him, and he laughed and looked lightly I
up to heaven, where the stars seemed to be winking (
over his discomfiture.

What was to be done ? It looked very like a night
in the frosty streets. The idea of the dead woman
popped into his imagination, and gave him a hearty

256

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

fright; what had happened to her in the early ntgjit
might very well happen to him before morning. And
he so young! and with such immense possibilities of
disorderly amusement before bim! He felt quite pa-
thetic over the notion of his own fate, as if it had been
some one else's, and made a little imaginative vignette

i of the scene in the morning when they should find his

I body.

He passed all his chances under review, turning the
white between his thumb and forefinger. Unfortu-
nately he was on bad terms with some old friends who
would once have taken pity on him in such a plight.
He had lampooned them in verses; he had beaten and
cheated them; and yet now, when he was in so close a
pinch, he thought there was at least one who might
perhaps relent. It was a chance. It was worth trying
at least, and he would go and see.

On the way, two little accidents happened to him
which colored his musings in a very different manner.
For, first, he fell in with the track o£ a patrol, and
walked in it for some hundred yards, although it lay
out of his direction. And this spirited him up; at least
he had confused his trail; for he was still possessed
with the idea of people tracking him all about Paris
over the snow, and collaring him next morning before
he was awake. The other matter affected him quite
differently. He passed a street corner, where, not so
long before, a woman and her child had been devoured
by wolve s. This was just the kind of weather, he
reflected, when wolves might take it into their heads
to enter Paris again; and a lone man in these deserted
streets would run the chance of something worse than
a mere scare. He stopped and looked upon the place
with an unpleasant interest — it was a centre where sev-
eral lanes intersected each other; and he looked down
them all, one after another, and held his breath to
listen, lest he should detect some galloping black
things on the snow or hear the sound of howling be-
tween him and the river. Ho remembered his mother

^

A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT. 257

telling him the story and pointing out the spot, while
he was yet a child. His mother! If he only knew
where she lived, he might make sure at least of shelter.
He determined he would inquire upon the morrow;
nay, he would go and see her too, poor old girl ! So
thinking, he arrived at his destination — his last hope
for the night.

The house was quite dark, like its neighbors; and
yet after a few taps, lie heard a movement overhead, a
door opening, and a cautious voice asking who was
there. The poet named himself in a loud whisper,
and waited, not without some trepidation, the result.
Nor had he to wait long. A window was suddenly
opened, and a pailful of slops splashed down upon the
doorstep, Villon had not been unprepared for some-
thing of the sort, and had put himself as much in shel-
ter as the nature of the porch admitted; but for all
that, he was deplorably drenched below the waist. His
hose began to freeze almost at once. Death from cold
and exposure stared him in the face; he remembered
he was of phthisical tendency, and began coughing ten-
tatively. But the gravity of the danger steadied his
nerves. He stopped a few hundred yards from the
door where he had been so rudely used, and reflected
with his finger to his nose. He could only see one way
of getting a lodging, and that was to take it. He had
noticed a house not far away, which looked as if it
might be easily broken into, and thither he betook him-
self promptly, entertaining himself on the way with the!
idea of a room still hot, with a table still loaded with
the remains of supper, where he might pass the rest o£
the black hours and whence he should issue, on the
morrow, with an armful of valuable plate. He even
considered on what viands and what wines he should
prefer; and as he was calling the roll of his favorite
dainties, roast fish presented itself to his mind with an
odd mixture of amusement and horror,

" 1 shall never finish tliat ballade." he thought to
•*""6elf ; and then, with another shudder at the rccol-

258 NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

lection, " Oh, damn his fat head ! " he repeated fer-
vently, and spat upon the snow.

The house in question looked dark at first sight ; but
as Villon made a prehminary inspection in search
of the handiest point of attack, a little twinkle of
light caught his eye from behind a curtained
window.

" The devil ! " he thought. " People awake ! Some
student or some saint, confound the crew ! Can't they
get drunk and lie in bed snoring like their neighbors !
What's the good of curfew, and poor devils of bell-
ringers jumping at a rope's end in bell-towers? What's
the use of day, if people sit up all night ? The gripes
to them ! " He grinned as be saw where his logic was
leading him. "Every man to his business, after all,"
added he, "and if they're awake, by the Lord, I may
come by a supper honestly for once, and cheat the
devil."

lie went boldly to the door and knocked with an
assured hand. On bolh previous occasions, he had
knocked timidly and with some dread of attracting
notice ; but now when he had just discarded the
thought of a burglarious entry, knocking at a door
seemed a mighty simple and innocent proceeding.
The sound of his blows echoed through the house with
thin, phantasmal reverberations, as though it were quite
empty ; but 'these had scarcely died away before a
measured tread drew near, a couple of bolts were with-
drawn, and one wing was opened broadly, as though
no guile or fear of guile were known to those withm.
A tall figure of a man, muscular and spare, but a littb
bent confronted Villon. The head was massive in
bulk, but finely sculptured ; the nose blunt at the bot-
tom, but refining upward to where it joined a pair of
strong and honest eyebrows; the mouth and eyes sur-
rounded with delicate markings, and the whole face
based upon a thick white beard, boldly and squarely
trimmed. Seen as it was by the light of a flickerin(^
hand-lamp, it looked perhaps nobler than it had a right

A LODGING FOX THE NIGHT.

to do ; but it was a fine face, honorable rather than
intelligent, strong, simple, and righteous.

" You knock late, sir," said the old man in resonant,
courteous tones.

Villon cringed, and brought up many servile words'
of apology ; at a crisis of this sort, the beggar was
uppermost in him, and the man of genius hid his head^
with confusion.

"You are cold," repeated the old man, " and hun-
gry ? Wei!, step in." And he ordered him into the
house with a noble enough gesture.

"Some great seigneur," thought Villon, as his host,
setting down the lamp on the flagged pavement of the
entry, shot the bolts once more into their places.

" You will pardon me if I go in front," he said, when
this was done ; and he preceded the poet upstairs into
a large apartment, warmed with a pan of charcoal and
lit by a great lamp hanging from the roof. It was
very bare of furniture : only some gold plate on a
sideboard ; some folios ; and a stand of armor
between the windows. Some smart tapestry hung
upon the walls, representing the crucifixion of our
Lord in one piece, and in another a scene of shepherds
and shepherdesses by a running stream. Over the
chimney was a shield of arms.

" Will you seat yourself,
forgive me if I leave you ?
to-night, and if you are to
myself."

No sooner was his host gone than Villon leaped from
the chair on which he had just seated himself, and
began examining the room, with the stealth and passion
of a cat. He weighed the gold flagons in his hand,
opened all the folios, and investigated the arms upon
the shield, and the stuff with which the seats were
lined. He raised the window curtains, and saw that
the windows were set with rich stained glass in figures,
so far as he could see, of martial import. Then he
stood in the middle of the room, drew a long breatl^

aid the old man, "and
am alone in my house
t I must forage for you

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

and retaining it with puffed cheeks, looked round and
round him, turning on his heels, as if to impress every
feature of the apartment on his memory.

" Seven pieces of plate," he said. " If there had
been ten, I would have risked it. A fine house, and a
fine old master, so help me all the saints 1 "

And just then, hearing the old man's tread return-
ing along the corridor, he stole back to his chair, and
began humbly toasting his wet legs before the charcoal
pan.

His entertainer had a plate of meat in one hand and
a jug of wine in ihe other. He sat down the plate
upon the (able, motioning Villon to draw in his chair,
and going to the sideboard, brought back two goblets,
which he filled.

" I drink your better fortune," he said, gravely
touching Villon's cup with his own.

" To our better acquaintance," said the poet, growing
bold. A mere man of the people would have been
awed by the courtesy of the old seigneur, but Vdlon
was hardened in that matter ; he had made mirth for
great lords before now, and found them as black
rascals as himself. And so he devoted himself to the
viands with a ravenous gusto, while the old man,
leaning backward, watched him with steady, curious
eyes.

" You have blood on your shoulder, my man," he
said.

Montigny must have laid his wet right hand upon
him as he left the house. He cursed Montigny in hia
heart

" It was none of my shedding," he stammered.

" I had not supposed so," returned his host quietly-
"A brawl f"

" Well, something of that sort," Villon admitted with
a quaver.
, ' Perhaps a fellow murdered ?"

"Oh, no, not murdered," said the poet, more and
J more confused. " It was all fair play — murdered by

A LODGING FOR THE NJGHT.

%ti

accident. I had no hand in it, God strike me dead \ "
he added fervently.

"One rogue the fewer, I daie say," observed the
master of the house.

" You may dare to say that," agreed Villon, infinitely
relieved. " As big a rogue as there is between here
and Jerusalem. He turned up his toes like a lamb-
But it was a nasty thing to look at. I dare say you've
seen dead men in your lime, my lord ? '' he added,
glancing at the armor.

"Many," said the old man. "I have followed the
wars, as you imagine."

Villon laid down his knife and fork, which he had
just taken up again.

" Were any of them bald ? " he asked.

" Oh yes, and with hair as white as mine."

" I don't think I should mind the white so much,
said Villon. " His was red." And he had a return o
his shuddering and tendency to laughter, which he
drowned with a great draught of wine. " I'm a little
put out when I think of it," he went on. "I knew
him — damn him! And then the cold gives a man
fancies — or the fancies give a man cold, I don't know
which."

" Have you any money ? " asked the old man.

" I have one white," returned the poet, laughing.
" I got it out of a dead jade's stocking in a porch.
She was as dead as Ciesar, poor wench, and as cold as
a church, with bits of ribbon sticking in her hair. This
is a hard world in winter for wolves and wenches and
poor rogues like me."

"I," said the old man, "am Enguerrand de la
Feuillfee, seigneur de Brisetout, bailly du Patatrac.
Who and what may you be ? "

Villon rose and made a suitable reverence. "I am
called Francis Villon," he said, " a poor Master of Arts
of this university. I know some Latin, and a deal
of vice. I can make chansons, ballades, lais, virelais,
and roundels, and I am very fond of wine. 1 waj

Z02 NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

born in a garret, and I shall not improbably die t _
the gallows, I may add, ray lord, that from this night
forward I am your lordship's very obsequious servant
to command."

" No servant of mine," said the knight "my guest
for this evening, and no more."

" A very grateful guest," said Villon politely, and
he drank in dumb show to his entertainer.

" Vou are sbrewd," began the old man, tapping his
forehead, " very shrewd ; you have learning ; you
are a clerk ; and yet you take a small piece of money
off a dead woman in the street. Is it not a kind of
theft ? "

t" It is a kind of theft much practised in the wars,
my lord."
"The wars are the field of honor," returned the
old man proudly. " There a man plays his life upon
the cast ; he lights in the name of his lord the king, his
Lord God, and all their lordships the holy saints and
angels."

Put it," said Vitlon, "that 1 were really a thief,
should I not play my life also, and against heavier
odds?"

" For gain but not for honor."

" Gain ? " repeated Villon with a shrug. " Gain 1
The poor fellow wants supper, and takes it. So does
the soldier in a campaign. Why, what are all these
requisitions we hear so much about ? If they are not
gain to those who take them, they are loss enough to
the others. The men-at-arms drink by a good fire,
while the burgher bites his nails to buy them wine and
wood. I have seen a good many ploughmen swinging
about the country ; ay, I have seen thirty on
one elm, and a very poor figure they made; and when I
asked someone how all these came to be hanged, I was
toid it was because they could not scrape together
enough crowns to satisfy the men-at-arms."

" These things are a necessity of war, which the low-
bom must endure with constancy. It is true that soma

A LODGING FOR THE NICBT. >6j

captains drive overhardi there are spirits in every rank
not easily moved by pity; and indeed many follow arms
who are no better than brigands."

" You see," said the poet, " you cannot sepataie the
soldier from the brigand; and what is a thief but an
isolated brigand with circumspect manDcrs ? I steal a
couple of mutton chops, without so much as distorbiag
people's sleep; the farmer grumbles a bit, bat sups
none the less wholesomely on what remains. Yoa
come up blowing gloriously on a trumpet, take away the
whole sheep, and beat the farmer pitifully into the
bargain. I have no trumpet; I amonlyTom, Dick, ot
Harry; I am a rogue and a dog, and han^^s too
good for me — with ail ray heart; but just an thA
farmer which of us he prefers, just find out whicb <4
us he lies awake to curse on cold nights."

" Look at us two," said bis lordship. " I am <dd,
strong, and honored. If I were turned from my botue
to-morrow, hundreds would be proud to sbelter me.
Poor people would go out and pass the night in the
streets with their children, if I merely hinted that I
wished to be alone. And I find yoa up, wandering
homeless, and picking farthings off dead women by the
wayside \ 1 fear no man and nothing; 1 have seen
you tremble and lose countenance at a word. I wait
God's summons contentedly in my own boose, or, if it
please the king to call me out again, Dpon the field of
battle. You look for the gallows; a rough, swift death,
without hope or honor. Is there no difference between
these two ? "

" As far as to the moon," ViUon acqaietced. " But
if I had been bom lord of Brisetout, aiid you had beent
the poor scholar Francis, would the diffeieace have'
been any the less ? Should not I have been wanning
my knees at this charcoal pan, and woald not yoa
have been groping for farthings in the snow? Shtnld
not I have been the soldier, and you die thief?"

" A thief ?" cried the old man. "I a thief I Ifyov
understood your words, yon would itpent dkem."

Villon turned out his hands with a gesture of inimit-
able impudence. " If your lordship had done me the
honor to follow my argument ! " he said.

" I do you too much honor in submitting to your
presence," said the knight. " Learn to curb your
tongue when you speak with old and honorable men,
or some one hastier than I may reprove you in a sharper
fashion." And he rose and paced the lower end of the
apartment, struggling with angerand antipathy. Villon
surreptitiously refilled his cup, and settled himself
more comfortably in the chair, crossing his knees and
leaning his head upon one hand and the elbow against
the back of the chair. He was now replete and warm;
and he was in nowise frightened for his host, having
gauged him as justly as was possible between two such
different characters. The night was far spent, and in
a very comfortable fashion after all; and he felt mor-
ally certain of a safe departure on the morrow.

Tell me one thing," said the old man, pausing in
his walk. " Are yon really a thief ? "

" I claim the sacred rights of hospitality," returned
the poet. "My lord, I am."

" You are very young," the knight continued.

" I should never have been so'old," replied Villon,
showing his fingers, " if I had not helped myself with
these ten talents. They have been my nursing mothers
and niy nursing fathers."

" You may still repent and change."

"I repent daily," said the poet, "There are few

(people more given to repentance than poor Francis.
As for change, let somebody change my circumstances.
A man must continue to eat, if it were only that he
may continue to repent."

' The change must begin in the heart," returned the
old man solemnly.

"My dear lord," answered Villon, "do you really
fancy that I steal for pleasure ? I hate stealing, like
any other piece of work or of danger. My teeth chat-
ter when I see a gallows. But I must eat, I must drink.

A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT,

365

I musl mix in society of some sort. What the devil !
Man is not a solitary animal — Cui Dens fmminam
tradit. Make me king's pantler — make me abbot of
St. Denis; make me baitly of the Patatrac; and then I
shall be changed indeed. But as long as you leave
me the poor scholar Francis Villon, without a farthing,
why, of course, I remain the same,"

"The grace of God is all-powerful."

" I should be a heretic to question it," said Francis.
" It has made you lord of Brisetout and bailly of the
Patatrac; it has given me nothing but the quick wits
under my hat and these ten toes upon ray hands. May
1 help myself to wine? I thank you respectfully. By
God's grace, you have a very superior vintage."

The lord of Brisetout walked to and fro with his
hands behind his back. Perhaps he was not yet quita
settled in his mind about the parallel between thieves
and soldiers; perhaps Villon had interested him by
some cross-thread of sympathy; perhaps his wits were
simply muddled by so much unfamiliar reasoning; but
whatever the cause, he somehow yearned to convert
the young man to a better way of thinking, and could
not make up his mind to drive him forth again into the
street.

" There is something more than I can understand in
this," he said at length. " Your mouth is full of sub-
tleties, and the devil has led you very far astray ; but
the devil is only a very weak spirit before God's truth,
and all his subtleties vanisli at a word of true honor, like
darkness at morning. Listen to me once more. I
learned long ago that a gentleman should live chival-
rously and lovingly to God, and the king, and his lady;
and though I have seen many strange things done, I
have still striven to command my ways upon that rule.
It is not only written in all noble histories, but in every
man's heart, if he will take care to read. You speak
of food and wine, and I know very well that hunger is
a difficult trial to endure ; but you do not speak of
other wants; you say nothing of honor, of faith to God

L

366 NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS,

and other men, of courtesy, of love without reprc
It may be that I am not very wise — and yet I think I
am — but you seem to rae Hke one who has lost his way
and made a great error in hfe. You are attending to
the little wants, and you have totally forgotten tlie
great and only real ones, hke a man who should lie
doctoring toothache on the Judgment Day. For such
things as honor and love and faith are not only nobler
than food and drink, but indeed I think we desire them
more, and suffer more sharply for their absence, I
speak to you as I think you will most easily understand
me. Are you not, while careful to fill your belly, dis-
regarding another appetite in your heart, which spoils
the pleasure of your life and keeps you continually
wretched?"

Villon was sensibly nettled under all this sermon-
izing. "You think I have no sense of honor!" he
cried. "I'm poor enough, God knows! It's hard to
see rich people with their gloves, and you blowing in
your hands. An empty belly is a bitter thing, although
you speak so lightly of it. If you had had as many as
I, perhaps you would change your tune. Any way I'm
a thief — make the most of that — but I'm not a devil
from hell, God strike me dead. I would have you to
know I've an honor of my own, as good as yours,!
though I don't prate about it all day long, as if it wasj
a God's miracle to have any. It seems quite natural
to me; I keep it in its box till its wanted. Why now,
look you here, how long have I been in this room with
you ? Did you not tell me you were alone in the
house ? Look at your gold plate ! You're strong, if
you like, but you're old and unarmed, and I have
my knife. What did I want but a jerk of the elbow
and here would have been you with the cold steel in
your bowels, and there would have been me, linking in
the streets, with an armful of golden cups ! Did you
supposelhadn'twitenough tosee that? And Iscomed
the action. There are your damned goblets, as safe as
in a church; there are you, with your heart ticking as

A LODGING FOR THE NIGHT.

z67

good as new ; and here am I, ready to go out again as
poor as I came in, with my one white that you threw
in my teeth .' And you think I have no sense of honor
— God strike me dead ! "

The old man stretched out his right arm. " I will
tell you what you are," he said, "You are a rogue,
my man, an impudent and black-hearted rogue and
vagabond. I have passed an hour with you. Oh !
believe me, I feel myself disgraced ! And you have
eaten and drunk at my table. But now I am sick at
your presence; the day has come, and the night-bird
should be off to his roost. Will you go before, or
after ? "

" Which you please," returned the poet, rising. " I
believe you to be strictly honorable." He thoughtfully
emptied his cup. " I wish I could add you were intelli-
gent," he went on, knocking on his head with his
knuckles. " Age ! age ! the brains stiS and rheu-
matic."

The old man preceded him from a point of self-
respect; Villon followed, whistling, with his thumbs in
his girdle.

" God pity you," said the lord of Brisetout at the
door.

"Good-bye, papa," returned Villon with a yawn.
" Many thanks for the cold mutton."

The door closed behind him. The dawn was break-
ing over the white roofs. A chill, uncomfortable:
ing ushered in the day. Villon stood and heartily
stretched himself in the middle of the road.

"Avery dull old gentleman," he thought. "I wonder
what his goblets may be worth,"

pi-

I.:

I

THE SIRE DE MALfiTROIT'S

DOOR.

THE SIRE DE MAL&TROTTS DOOR.

DENIS DE BEAULIEU was not yet two-and-
twenty, but he counted himself a grown man, and
a very accomplished cavalier into the bargain. Lads
were early formed in that rough, warfaring epoch ; and
when one has been in a pitched battle and a dozen
raids, has killed one's man in an honorable fashion, and
knows a thin^ or two of strategy and mankind, a cer-
tain swagger in the gait is surely to be pardoned. He
had put up his horse with due care, and supped with
due dehberation ; and then, in a very agreeable frame
of mind, went out to pay a visit in the gray of the
evening. It was not a very wise proceeding on the
young man's part. He would have done better to
remain beside the fire or go decently to bed. For the
town was full of the troops of Burgundy and England
under a mixed command ; and though Denis was there
on safe-conduct, his safe-conduct was like to serve him
little on a chance encounter.

It was September, 1429; the weather had fallen
sharp ; a flighty piping wind, laden with showers, beat
about the township ; and the dead leaves ran riot along
the streets. Here and there a window was already
lighted up ; and the noise of men-at-arms making
merry over supper within, came forth in (its and was
swallowed up and carried away by the wind. The
night fell swiftly ; the flag of England, fluttering on
the spire-top, grew ever fainter and fainter against the
flying clouds — a black speck like a swallow in the
tumultuous, leaden chaos of the sky. As the night fell
the wind rose, and began to hoot under archways and
roar amid the tree-tops in the valley below the town.

Denis de Beaulieu walked fast and was soon knock-

2^i

NE W ARABIAN NIGHTS.

ing at his friend's door ; but though he promised him-
self to stay only a little while and make an early return,
his welcome was so pleasant, and he found so much to
delay him, that it was already long past midnight
before he said good-bye upon the threshold. The
wind had fallen again in the meanwhile ; the night was
as black as the grave ; not a star, nor a glimmer of
moonshine, slipped through the canopy of cloud.
Denis was ill-acquainted with the intricate lanes of
Chateau Landon ; even by daylight he had found some
trouble in picking his way ; and in this absolute dark-
ness he soon lost it altogether. He was certain of one
thing only — to keep mounting the hill ; for his friend's
house lay at the lower end, or tail, of Chateau Landon,
white the inn was up at the head, under the great
church spire. With this clue to go upon he stumbled
and groped forward, now breathing more freely in open
places where there was a good slice of sky overhead,
now feeling along the wall in stifling closes. It is an
eerie and mysterious position to be thus submerged in
opaque blackness in an almost unknown town. The
silence is terrifying in its possibilities. The touch of
cold window bars to the exploring hand startles the
man like the touch of a toad ; the inequaUties of the
pavement shake his heart into his mouth ; a piece of
denser darkness threatens an ambuscade or a chasm
in the pathway ; and where the air is brighter, the
houses put on strange and bewildering appearances, as
if to lead him farther from his way. For Denis, who
had to regain his inn without attracting notice, there
was real danger as well as mere discomfort in the walk;
and he went warily and boldly at once, and at every
comer paused to make an observation.

He had been for some time threading a lane so nar-
row that he could touch a wall with either hand when
it began to open out and go sharply downward. Plainly
this lay no longer in the direction of his inn ; but the
hope of a little more light tempted him forward to
reconnoitre. The lane ended in a terrace with a b ~^

TBE SIRE DE MALETROIT'S DOOR,

'73

zan wall, which gave an outlook between high houses,
as out of an embrasure, into the valley lying dark and
formless several hundred feet below- Denis looked
down, and could discern a few tree-tops waving and a
single speck of brightness where the river ran across a
weir. The weather was clearing up, and the sky had
lightened, so as to show the outline of the heavier
clouds and the dark margin of the hills. By the
uncertain glimmer, the house on his left hand should
be a place of some pretensions ; it was surmounted by
several pinnacles and turret-tops ; the round stem of
a chapel, with a fringe of flying buttresses, projected
boldly from the main block ; and the door was sheltered
under a deep porch carved with figures and overhung
by two long gargoyles. The windows of the chapel
gleamed through their intricate tracery with a light as
of many tapers, and threw out the buttresses and the
peaked roof in a more intense blackness against the
sky. It was plainly the hotel of some great family of
the neighborhood ; and as it reminded Denis of a town
house of his own at Bourges, he stood for some time
gazing up at it and mentally gauging the skill of the
architects and the consideration of the two famihes.

There seemed to be no issue to the terrace but the
lane by which he had reached it ; he could only retrace
his steps, but he had gained some notion of his where-
abouts, and hoped by this means to hit the main
thoroughfare and speedily regain the inn. He was
reckoning without that chapter of accidents which was
to make this night memorable above all others in his
career; for he had not gone back above a hundred
yards before he saw a light coming lo meet him, and
heard loud voices speaking together in the echoing
narrows of the lane. It was a party of men-at-arms
going the night round with torches. Denis assured
himself that they had all been making free with the
wine-bowl, and were in no mood to be particular about
safe-conducts or the niceties of chivalrous war. It was
as like as not that they would kill him like a dog and

L

«74

JJEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

leave him where he fell. The situation was inspiriting
but nervous. Their own torches would conceal him
from sight, he reflected ; and he hoped that they would
drown the noise of his footsteps with their own empty
voices. If he were hut fleet and silent, he might evade
their notice altogether.

Unfortunately, as he turned to beat a retreat, his foot
rolled upon a pebble ; he fell against the wall with an
ejaculation, and his sword rang loudly on the stones.
Two or three voices demanded who went there — some
in French, some in English ; but Denis made no reply,
and ran the faster down the lane. Once upon the
terrace, he paused to look back. They still kept call-
ing after him, and just then began to double the pace
in pursuit, with a considerable clank of armor, and
great tossing of the torchlight to and fro in the narrow
jaws of the passage.

Denis cast a look around and darted into the porch.
There he might escape observation, or— if that were
loo much to expect — was in a capital posture whether
for parley or defence. So thinking, he drew his sword
and tried to set his back against the door. To his sur-
prise, it yielded behind his weight ; and though he
turned in a moment, continued to swing back on oiled
and noiseless hinges, until it stood wide open on a
black interior. When things fall out opportunely for
the person concerned, he is not apt to be critical about
the how or why, his own immediate personal conven-
ience seeming a sufiicient reason for the strangest
oddities and revolutions in our sublunary things ; and
so Denis, without amoment'shesitation, stepped within
and partly closed the door behind him to conceal his
place of refuge. Nothing was further from his
thoughts than to close it altogether ; but for some
inexplicable reason — perhaps by a spring or a weight
— the ponderous mass of oak whipped itself out of his
fingers and clanked to, with a formidable rumble and
a noise like the falling of an automatic bar.

The round, at that very moment, debouched upon

THE SIRE CE MAL&TROIT'S DOOR.

37s

the terrace and proceeded to summon him with shouts
and curses. He heard them ferreting in the dark
comers j the stock of a lance even rattled along the
outer surface of the door behind which he stood ; but
these gentlemen were in too high a humor to be long
delayed, and soon made off down a corkscrew pathway
which had escaped Denis's observation, and passed out
of sight and hearing along the battlements of the

Denis breathed again. He gave them a few minutes'
grace for fear of accidents, and then groped about for
some means of opening the door and slipping forth
again. The inner surface was quite smooth, not a
handle, not a moulding, not a projection of any sort.
He got his finger-nails round the edges and pulled, but
the mass was immovable. He shook it, it was as firm
as a rock. Denis de Beaulieu frowned and gave vent
to a little noiseless whistle. What ailed the door? he
wondered. Why was it open ? How came it to shut so
easily and so effectually after him ? There was some-
thing obscure and underhand about all this, that was
little to the young man's fancy. It looked like a snare;
and yet who could suppose a snare in such a quiet
by-street and in a house of so prosperous and even
noble an exterior ? And yet— snare or no snare, inten-
tionally or unintentionally — here he was, prettily
trapped ; and for the life of him he could see no way
out of it again. The darkness began to weigh upon
him. He gave ear ; all was silent without, but within
and close by he seemed to catch a faint sighing, afaint
sobbing rustle, a little stealthy creak — as though many
persons were at his side, holding themselves quite still,
and governing even their respiration with the extreme
of slyness. The idea went to his vitals with a shock,
and he faced about suddenly as if to defend his life.
Then, for the first time, he became aware of a light
about the level of his eyes and at some distance in the
interior of the house— a vertical thread of light, widen-
ing towards the bottom, such as might escape between

3^6 NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

two wings of arras over a doorway. To see anything
was a relief to Denis ; it was like a piece of solid ground
to a man laboring in a morass ; his mind seized upon
it with avidity ; and he stood staring at it and trying
to piece together some logical conception of his sur-
roundings. Plainly there was a flight of steps ascend-
ing from his own level to that of this illuminated door-
way ; and indeed he thought he could make out
another thread of light, as fine as a needle and as faint as
phosphorescence, which might very well be reflected
along the polished wood of a handrail. Since he had
begun to suspect that he was not alone, his heart had
continued to beat with smothering violence, and an
intolerable desire for action of any sort had possessed
itself of his spirit. He was in deadly peril, he believed
What could be more natural than to mount the stair-
case, lift the curtain, and confront his difficulty at
once ? At least he would be dealing with something
tangible ; at least he would be no longer in the dark.
He stepped slowly forward with outstretched hands,
until his foot struck the bottom step ; then he rapidly
scaled the stairs, stood for a moment to compose his
expression, hfted the arras and went in.

He found himself in a large apartment of pol-
ished stone. There were three doors; one on each
of three sides; all similarly curtained with tapestry.
The fourth side was occupied by two large windows
and a great stone chimney-piece, carved with the arms
of the Maldtroits. Denis recognized the bearings, and
was gratified to find himself in such good hands. The
room was strongly illuminated; but it contained little
furniture except a heavy table and a chair or two, the
hearth was innocent of fire, and the pavement was but
sparsely strewn with rushes clearly many days old.

On a high chair beside the chimney, and directly
facing Denis as he entered, sat a little old gentleman
in a fur tippet. He sat with his legs crossed and his
hands folded, and a cup of spiced wine stood by his
elbow on a bracket on the wall. His countenance had

THE SIRE DE MALtTROtTS DOOR.

=77

s. strongly masculine cast; not properly human, but
Buch as we see in the bull, the goat, or the domestic
boar; something equivocal and wheedling, something
greedy, brutal, and dangerous. The upper lip was
inordinately full, as though swollen by a blow or a
toothache; and the smile, the peaked eyebrows, and
the small, strong eyes were quaintly and almost comic-
ally evil in expression. Beautiful white hair hung
straight all round his head, like a saint's, and fell in a
single curl upon the tippet. His beard and moustache
were the pink of venerable sweetness. Age, probably
in consequence of inordinate precautions, had left no
mark upon his hands; and the Mal^troit hand was
famous. It would be difficult to imagine anything at
once so fleshy and so delicate in design; the taper,
sensual fingers were like those of one of Leonardo's
women; the fork of the thumb made a dimpled pro-
tuberance when closed; the nails were perfectly shaped,
and of a dead, surprising whiteness. It rendered his
aspect tenfold more redoubtable, that a man with hands
like these should keep them devoutly folded like a
virgin martyr — that a man with so intent and startling
an expression of face should sit patiently on his seat
and contemplate people with an unwinking stare, like
a god, or a god's statue. His quiescence seemed iron-
ical and treacherous, it fitted so poorly with his looks.

Such was Alain, Sire de Mal^troit.

Denis and he looked silently at each other for a
second or two.

" Pray step in," said the Sire de Maletroit. " I have
been expecting you all the evening."

He had not risen but he accompanied his words
with a smile and a slight but courteous inclination of
the head. Partly from the smile, partly from the
strange musical murmur with which the Sire prefaced
his observation, Denis felt a strong shudder of disgust
go through his marrow. And what with disgust and
honest confusion of mind, he could scarcely get words
together in reply.

i^B

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

" I fear," he said, " that this is a double accident. I
am not the person you suppose me. It seems you were
looking for a visit; but for my part, nothing was fur-
ther from my thoughts — nothing could be more con-
trary to my wishes — than this intrusion. "

" Well, well," replied the old gentleman indulgently,
" here you are, which is the main point. Seat yourself
ray friend, and put yourself entirely at your ease. We
shall arrange our little affairs presently."

Denis perceived that the matter was still complicated
with some misconception, and he hastened to continue
his explanations.
" Your door , . , ." he began. .

" About my door ? " asked the other raising his
peaked eyebrows. " A little piece of ingenuity. "
And he shrugged his shoulders. "A hospitable fancy!
By your own account, you were not desirous of rac-
ing my acquaintance. We old people look for such
reluctance now and then ; when it touches our
honor, we cast about until we find some way of over-
coming it. You arrive uninvited, but believe me,
very welcome. "

' You persist in error, sir, " said Denis. " There
can be no question between you and me. I am a
stranger in this countryside. My name is Denis,
damoiseau de Beaulieu. If you see me in your house,
it is only —

"My young friend," interrupted the other, "you
will permit me to have my own ideas on that subject
They probably differ from yours at the present
moment," he added with a leer, " but time will show
which of us is in the right."

Denis was convinced he had to do with a. lunatic.
He seated himself with a shrug, content to wait the
upshot; and a pause ensued, during which he thought
he could distinguish a hurried gabbling as of prayer
from behind the arras immediately opposite him.
Sometimes there seemed to be but one person engaged,
'o; and the vehemence of the voice, low

THE SIRE DE MALtTROIT'S DOOR.

ks it was, seemed to indicate either great haste or an
agony of spirit. It occurred to him that this piece of
tapestry covered the entrance to the chapel he had
noticed from without.

The old gentleman meanwhile surveyed Denis from
head to foot with a smile, and from time to time
emitted little noises like a bird or a mouse, which
seemed to indicate a high degree of satisfaction. This
state of matters became rapidly insupportable; and
Denis, to put an end to it, remarked politely that the
wind had gone down.

The old gentleman fell into a fit of silent laughter,
SO prolonged and violent that he became quite red in
the face, Denis got upon his feet at once, and put on
his hat with a flourish.

" Sir," he said, " if you are in your wits, you have
sffronted me grossly. If you are out of them, I flatter
myself I can find better employment for my brains
than to talk with lunatics. My conscience is clear;
you have made a fool of me from the first moment; you
have refused to hear my explanations; and now there is
no power under God will make me stay here any longer;
and if I cannot make my way out in a more decent
fashion, I will hack your door in pieces with my sword."

The Sire de Mal^troit raised his right hand and
wagged it at Denis with the fore and little fingers
extended.

" My dear nephew," he said, " sit down,"

"Nephew!" retorted Denis, "you lie in your
throat;" and he snapped his fingers in his face.

"Sit down, you rogue!" cried the old gentleman,
in a sudden, harsh voice, like the barking of a dog.
" Do you fancy," he went on, " that when I had made
my little contrivance for the door I had stopped short
with that ? If you prefer to be bound hand and foot
till your bones ache, rise and try to go away. If you
choose to remain a free young buck, agreeably con-
versing with an old gentleman — why, sit where youan
in peace, and God be with you."

aSo

NEW ARABIA!^ NIGHTS.

" Do you mean I am a prisoner ? " demanded Denl&

"I state the facts," replied the other. "I would
rather leave the conclusion to yourself."

Denis sat down again. Externally he managed to
keep pretty calm; but within, he was now boiling with
anger, now chilled with apprehension. He no longer
feit convinced that he was dealing with a madman.
And if the old gentleman was sane, what, in God's
name, had he to look for ? What absurd or tragical
adventure had befallen him? What countenance was
he to assume?

While he was thus unpleasantly reflecting, the arras
that overhung the chapel door was raised, and a tall
priest in hi.*; robes came forth and, giving a long, keen
stare at Denis said something in an undertone to Sire
de Mal^troit.

" She is in a better frame of spirit ? " asked the
latter.

" She is more resigned, messire," replied the priest

"Now the Lord help her, she is hard to please ! "
sneered the old gentleman. " A likely stripling — not
ill-bom^and of her own choosing, too ? Why, what
more would the jade have ? "

" The situation is not usual for a young damsel,"
said the other, " and somewhat trying to her blushes."

"She should have thought of that before she began
the dance ? It was none of my choosing, God knows
that: but since she is in it, by our lady, she shall carry
it to the end." And then addressing Denis, "Monsieur
de Beaulieu," he asked, "may I present you to my
niece ? She has been waiting your arrival, I may say,
with even greater impatience than myself."

Denis had resigned himself with a good grace — all
he desired was to know the worst of it as speedily as
possible; so he rose at once, and bowed in acquies-
cence. The Sire de Maletroit followed his example
and limped, with the assistance of the chaplain's arm,
towards the chapel-door. The priest pulled aside the
(trras. and all three entered. The building had con-

THE SIRE DE MALtTROIVS DOOR. 281

siderable architectural pretensions. A light groiaing
sprang from six stout columns, and hung down in two
rich pendants from the centre of the vault. The place
terminated behind the altar in a round end, embossed
and honeycombed with a superfluity of ornament in
relief, and pierced by many little windows shaped like
stars, trefoils, or wheels. These windows were imper-
fectly glazed, so that the night air circulated freely in
the chapel. The tapers, of which there must have
been half a hundred burning on the altar, were
unmercifully blown about; and the light went through
many different phases of briUiancy and semi-eclipse.
On the steps in front of the altar knelt a young girl
richly attired as a bride. A chilt settled over Denis as
he observed her costume; he fought with desperate
energy against the conclusion that was being thrust
upon his mind; it could not — it should not — be as he
feared.

" Blanche," said the Sire, in his most flute-like tones,
" I have brought a friend to see you, my tittle girl ;
turn round and give him your pretty hand. It is
good to be devout ; but it is necessary to be polite my

The girl rose to her feet and turned toward the now
comers. She moved all of a piece ; and shame and
exhaustion were expressed in every line of her fresh
young body ; and she held her head down and kept
her eyes upon the pavement, as she came slowly for-
ward. In the course of her advance, her eyes fell upon
Denis de Beaulieu's feet — feet of which he was justly
vain, be it remarked, and wore in the most elegant
accoutrement even while traveling. She paused — •
' started, as if his yellow boots had conveyed some
shocking meaning — and glanced suddenly up into the
wearer's countenance. Their eyes met ; shame gave
place to horror and terror in her looks ; the blood left
her lips ; with a piercing scream she covered he(
face with her hands and sank upon the chapel
floor.

28a

HEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

' she cried. " My uncle,

"That is not tht

that is not the man !

The Sire de Mal^troit chirped agreeably. "Of
course not," he said, " I expected as much. It was
so unfortunate you could not remember his name."

" Indeed," she cried, " indeed, I have never seen
this person till this moment — I have never so much as
set eyes upon him — 1 never wish to see him again.
Sir," she said, turning to Denis, " if you are a gentle-
man, you will bear me out. Have I ever seen you —
have you ever seen me — before this accursed hour ?"

" To speak for myself, I have never had that pleas-
ure," answered the young man. "This is the first
time, messire, that I have met with your engaging
niece."

The old gentleman shrugged his shoulders.

" I am distressed to hear it," he said. " But it is
never too late to begin. I had little more acquaintance
with my own late lady ere I married her ; which
proves," he added, with a grimace, "that these
impromptu marriages may often produce an excellent
understanding in the long run. As the bridegroom is
to have a voice in the matter, I will give him two hours
to make up for lost time before we proceed with the
ceremony." And he turned toward the door, followed
by the clergyman.

The girl was on her feet in a moment. " My uncle,
you cannot be in earnest," she said. " I declare before
God I will stab myself rather than be forced on that
young man. The heart rises at it ; God forbids such
mamages; you dishonor your white hair. Oh, my uncle,
pity me ! There is not a woman in all the world but
would prefer death to such a nuptial. Is it possible,"
she added, faltering — "is it possible that you do not
believe me — ^that you still think this " — and she pointed
at Denis with a tremor of anger and contempt — " that
you still think this to be the man ? "

" Frankly," said the old gentleman, pausing o
threshold, " I do. But let me explain to you once for

THE SIRE DE MALP.TROJT'^ DOOR.

aS3

all, Blanche de Mal^troit, my way of thinking about
this affair. When you took it into your head to dishonor
my family and the name that I have borne, in peace
and war, for more than thtee-score years, you forfeited,
not only the right to question my designs, but that of
looking me in the face. If your father had been alive,
he would have spat on you and turned you out of
doors. His was the hand of iron. You may bless
your God you have only to deal with the hand of vel-
Tet, mademoiselle. It was my duty to get you married
without delay. Out of pure good-will, I have tried to
find your own gallant for you. And I believe I have
succeeded. But before God and all the holy angels,
Blanche de Malt^troit, if I have not, I care not one
jack-straw. So let me recommend you to be polite to
our young friend ; for upon my word, your next groom
may be less appetizing."

And with that he went out, with the chaplain at his
heels ; and the arras fell behind the pair.

The girl turned upon Denis with flashing eyes.

" And what, sir," she demanded, " may be the mean-
ing of all this ?"

* God knows," returned Denis, gloomily. '' I am a
prisoner in this house, which seems full of mad people.
More I know not ; and nothing do I understand. '

" And pray how came you here," she asked.

He told her as briefly'as he could, " For the rest,"
he added, "perhaps you will follow my example, and
tell me the answer to all these riddles, and what, in
God's name, is like to be the end of it."

She stood silent for a little, and he could see hei
lips tremble and her tearless eyes burn with a fevfrisb
lustre. Then she pressed her forehead in both hands.

" Alas, how my head aches .' " she said wearily — "* to
say nothing of ray poor heart I But it is due to you to
know my story, unmaidenly as it must seem. I am
called Blanche de Malfetroit ; I have been without
father or mother for — oh! for as long as I can resol-
lect, and indeed I have been most unhappy all my life

L

JVEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

Three months ago a young captain began to stand
near me every day in church. I could see that 1
pleased him ; I am much to blame, but I was so glad
that anyone should love me ; and when he passed
me a letter, I took it home with me and read it with
great pleasure. Since that time he has written many.
He was so anxious to speak with me, poor fellow ! and
kept asking me to leave the door open some evening
that we might have two words upon the stair. For he
knew how much my uncle trusted me." She gave
something like a sob at that, and it was a moment
before she could go on. " My uncle is a hard man,
but he is very shrewd,'* she said at last. "He has
performed many feats in war, and was a great person
at court, and much trusted by Queen Isabeau in old
days. How he came to suspect me I cannot tell ; but
it is hard to keep anything from his knowledge ; and
this morning, as we came from mass, he took my hand
into his, forced it open, and read ray little billet, walk-
ing by my side all the while. When he finished, he
gave it back to me with great politeness. It con-
tained another request to have the door left open ; and
this has been the ruin of us all. My uncle kept me
strictly in my room until evening, and then ordered me
to dress myself as you see me — ^a hard mockery for a
young girl, do you not think so? I suppose, when he
could not prevail with me to tell him the young cap-
tain's 'name, he must have laid a trap for him: into
which, alas ! you have fallen in the anger of God. I
looked for much confusion ; for how could I tell
whether he was willing to take me for his wife on these
sharp terms? He might have been trilling with me
from the first-; or I might have made myself too cheap
in his eyes. But truly I had not looked for such a
ehameful punishment as this ! I could not think that
God would let a girl be so disgraced before a young
man. And now I tell you all; and I can scarcely hope
that you will not despise me. "

Denis made her a respectful inclination.

J

TBE SIRS DE MALk TROIT'S DOOR.

; Maletroit

without," she

" Madam," he said, " you have honored me by your
confidence. It remains for me to prove that I :
not unworthy of the honor. Is Messire de
at hand ? "

" I believe he is writing in the salle i
answered.

" May I lead you thither, madam ?" asked Denis,
offering his hand with his most courtly bearing.

She accepted it ; and the pair passed out of the
chapel, Blanche in a very drooping and shamefast con-
dition, but Dennis strutting and rufFling in the con-
sciousness of a mission, and the boyish certainty of
accomplishing it with honor.

The Sire de MaUtroit rose to meet them with an
ironical obeisance.

" Sir," said Denis, with the grandest possible air, " I
believe I am to have some say in the matter of this
marriage ; and let me tell you at once, I will be no
party to forcing the inclination of this younglady. Had it
been freely offered to me, I should have been proud
to accept her hand, for I perceive she is as good as
she is beautiful ; but as things are, I have now the
honor, messire, of refusing."

Blanche looked at him with gratitude in her eyes ;
but the old gentleman only smiled and smiled, until hia
smile grew positively sickening to Denis.

"I am afraid," he said, ' Monsieur de Beaulieu,
that you do not perfectly understand the choice I have
offered you. Follow me, I beseech you, to this win-
dow." And he led the way to one of the large win-
dows which stood open on the night. " You observe,"
he went on, " there is an iron ring in the upper
masonry, and reeved through that, a very efficacious
rope. Now, mark my words: if you should find your
disinclination to my niece's person insurmountable, I
shall have you hanged out of this window before sun-
rise, I shall only proceed to such an extremity with
the greatest regret, you may believe me. For it is not
at all your death that I desire, but my niece's estal>

2S6 ITE^ ARABIAN NIGHTS.

lishment In life. At the same time, it must come ta
that if you prove obstinate. Your family, Monsieur
de Beauheu, is very well in its way; hut if you sprang
from Charlemagne, you should not refuse the hand of
a M ale troit with impunity—not if she had been as com-
mon as the Paris road — not if she were as hideous as
the gargoyle over my door. Neither my niece nor you,
nor my own private feelings, move me at all in this
matter. The honor of my house has been compro-
mised ; I believe you to be the guilty person,
at least you are now in the secret ; and you
can hardly wonder if I request you to wipe out the
stain. If you will not, your blood be on your own
head ! It will be no great satisfaction to me to have
your interesting relics kicking their heels in the breeze
below my windows, but half a loaf is better than no
bread, and if I cannot cure the dishonor, I shall at
least stop t!ie scandal."

There was a pause.

"I believe there are other ways of settling such
imbroglios among gentlemen," said Denis. "You wear a
sword, and I hear you have used it with distinction."

The Sire de Mal^troit made a signal to the chaplain,
who crossed the room with long silent strides and raised
the arras over the third of the three doors. It was only
a moment before he let it fall again ; but Denis had
time to see a dusky passage full of armed men.

"When I was a little younger, I should have been
delighted to honor you, Monsieur de Beaulieu," said
Sire Alain ; " but I am now too old. Faithful retainers
are the sinews of age, and I must employ the strength I
have. This is one of the hardest things to swallow as a
man grows up in years ; but with a little patience, even
this becomes habitual. You and the lady seem to
prefer the salle for what remains of your two hours j
and as I have no desire to cross your preference, I shall
resign it to your use with all the pleasure in the world.
No haste ! " he added, holding up his hand, as he saw
a dangerous look come into Denis de Eeautieu's face;

THE SIRE DE MALkTROlT'S DOOR.

2S7

* If your mind revolt against hanging, it will be time
enough two hours hence to throw yourself out of the
window or upon the pikes of my retainers. Two hours
of life are always two hours. A great many things
may turn up in even as little a while as that. And,
besides, if I understand her appearance, my niece lias
something to say to you. You will not disfigure your
last hours by a want of politeness to a lady?"

Denis looked at Blanche, and she made him an
imploring gesture.

It is likely that the old gentleman was hugely pleased
at this symptom of anundcrstanding ; for he smiled on
both, and added sweetly: " If you will give me your
word of honor, Monsieur de Beaiilieu, to await my
return at the end of the two hours before attempting
anything desperate, I shall withdraw my retainers, and
let you speak in greater privacy with mademoiselle."

Denis again glanced at the girl, who seemed to
beseech him to agree.

" I give you my word of honor," he said.

Messire de Mal^troit bowed, and proceeded to limp
about the apartment, clearing his throat the while with
that odd musical chirp which had already grown so
irritating in the ears of Denis de Beaulieu. He first
possessed himself of some papers which lay upon the
table ; then he went to the mouth of the passage and
appeared to give an order to the men behind the arras ;
and lastly he hobbled out through the door by which
Denis had come in, turning upon the threshold to
address a last smiling bow to the young couple, and
followed by the chaplain with a hand-lamp.

No sooner were they alone than Blanche advanced
towards Denis with her hands extended. Her face was
flushed and excited, and her eyes shone with tears.

"You shall not die!" she cried, "you shall marry
me after all."

" You seem to think, madam," replied Denis, " that
I stand much in fear of death."

" Oh, no, no," she said, " I see you are no poltroon-

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

—I could not bear to have y

It is for my own sake-
slain for such a scruple.

" I am afraid," returned Denis, " that you underrate
the difficulty, madam. What you may be too generous
to refuse, I may be too proud to accept. In a moment
o£ noble feeling towards me, you forgot what you per-
haps owe to others."

He had Ihe decency to keep his eyes on the floor as
he said this, and after hi: had finished, so as not to
spy upon her confusion. She stood silent for a moment,
then walked suddenly away, and falling on her uncle's
chair, fairly burst out sobbing, Denis was in the acme
of embarrassment. He looked round, as if to seek for
inspiration, and seeing a stool, plumped down upon it
for something to do. There he sat playing with the
guard of his rapier, and wishing himself dead a thousand
times over, and buried in the nastiest kitchen-heap in
France. His eyes wandered round the apartment, but
found nothing to arrest them. There were such wide
spaces between the furniture, the light fell so badly and
cheerlessly over all, the dark outside air looked in so
coldly through the windows, that he thought he had
never seen a church so vast, nor a tomb so melancholy.
The regular sobs of Blanche de Maletroit measured out
the time like the ticking of a clock. He read the
device upon the shield over and over again, until his
eyes became obscured ; he stared into shadowy corners
until he imagined tiiey were swarming with horrible
animals ; and every now and again he awoke with a
start, to remember that his last two hours were running,
and death was on the march.

Oftener and oftener, as the time went on, did his
glance settle on the girl herself. Her face was bowed
forward and covered with her hands, and she was
shaken at intervals by the convulsive hiccup of grief.
Even thus she was not an unpleasant object to dwell
upon, so plump and yet so fine, with a warm brown
skin, and the most beautiful hair, Denis thought, in
the whole world of womankind. Her hands were Uka

J

THE SJRE DE MAI±TROIT'S DOOR.

her uncle's : but they were more in place at the end of
her young arms, and looked infinitely soft and caress-
ing. He remembered how her biue eyes had shone
upon him, full of anger, pity, and innocence. And the
more he dwelt on her perfections, the uglier death
looked, and the more deeply was he smitten with peni-
tence at her continued tears. Now he felt that no
man could have the courage to leave a world which
contained so beautiful a creature ; and now he would
have given forty minutes of his last hour to have unsaid
his cruel speech.

Suddenly a hoarse and ragged peal of cockcrow
rose to their ears from the dark valley below the win-
dows. And this shattering noise in the silence of all
around was like a light in a dark place, and shook
them both out of their reflections.

" Alas, can I do nothing to help you ?" she said,
looking up.

'■ Madam," replied Denis, with a fine irrelevancy,
"if I have said anything to wound you, believe me, it
was for your own sake and not for mine,"

She thanked him with a tearful look.

" I feel your position cruelly," he went on. " The
world has been bitter hard on you. Your uncle is a
disgrace to mankind. Believe me, madam, there is no
young gentleman in all France but would be glad of
my opportunity, to die in doing you a momentary ser-
vice."

"I know already that you can be very brave and
generous," she answered. "What I want to know is
whether I can serve you — ^now or afterwards," she
added, with a quaver.

" Most certainly," he answered with a smile. "Let
mc sit beside you as if I were a friend, instead of a
foolish intruder ; try to forget how awkwardly we are
placed to one another ; make my last moments go
pleasantly ; and you will do me the chief service pos-
eible,"

"You are very gallant," she added, with a yet

L

•90 NE W ARABIAN NIGHTS.

deeper sadness " very gallant and it

somehow pains me. But draw nearer, if you please ;
and if you find anything to say to me, you will at least
make certainof a very friendly listener. Ah! Monsieur
de Beaulieu," she broke forth — "ah ! Monsieur de
Beaulieu, how can I look you in the face?" And she
fell to weeping again with a renewed effusion.

" Madam," said Denis, taking her hand in both of
bis, " reiiect on the little time 1 have before me, and
the great bitterness into which I am cast by the sight
of your distress. Spare me, in my last moments, the
spectacle of what I cannot cure even with the sacrifice
of my life."

" I am very selfish," answered Blanche. " I will be
braver, Monsieur de Beaulieu, for your sake. But
think if I can do you no kindness in the future — if
you have no friends to whom I could carry yout
adieux. Charge nie as heavily as you car ; every bur-
den will lighten, by so little, the invaluable gratitude I
owe you. Put it in my power to do scmething more
for you than weep."

" My mother is married again, and has a young
family to care for. My brother Guichard will inherit
my fiefs; and if I am not in error, that will content
him amply for my death. Life is a little vapor that
passeth away, as we are told by those in holy orders.
When a man is in a fair way and sees all life open in
front of him, he seems to himself to make a very impor-
tant figure in the world. His horse whinnies to him;
the trumpets blow and the girls look out of window as
he rides into town before his company; he receives
many assurances of trust and regard — sometimes by
express in a letter — sometimes face to face, with per-
sons of great consequence falling on his neck. It is
not wonderful if his head is turned for a lime. But
once he is dead, were he as brave as Hercules or as
wise as Solomon, he is soon forgotten. It is not ten
years since my father fell, with many other knights
around him, in a very fierce encounter, and I do not

THE SIRE DE MALkTROITS DOOR.

391

o, madam,
Li see that death is a
a man gets into his
: him till the judgment
low, and once I am

she exclaimed, "you

think that any one of them, nor so much
of the fight, is now remembered. No,
the nearer you come to it, you see thi
dark and dusty corner, where a man
tomb and has the door shut afti
day. 1 have few friends just
dead I shall have none."

"Ah, Monsieur de Beaulieu I
forget Blanche de Maletroit."

" You have a sweet nature, madam, and you are
pleased to estimate a little service far beyond its
worth."

"It is not that," she answered. " You mistake me
if you think I am easily touched by my own concerns-
I say so, because you are the noblest man I have ever
met ; because I recognize in you a spirit that would
have made even a common person famous in the land."
" And yet here I die in a mousetrap — with no more
noise about it than my own squeaking," answered he.

A look of pain crossed her face, and she was silent
for a little while. Then a light came into her eyes,
and with a smile she spoke again.

" I cannot have my champion think meanly of him-
self. Anyone who gives his life for another will be
met in Paradise by all the heralds and angels of the
Lord God. And you have no such cause to hang
your head. For .... Pray, do you think me beau-
tiful i* " she asked, with a deep flush.
" Indeed, madam, I do," he said.
"lam glad of that," she answered heartily. "Do
you think there are many men in France who have
been asked in marriage by a beautiful maiden — with
her own lips — and who have refused her to her face?
1 know you men would half despise such a triumph ;
but believe me, we women know more of what is pre-
cious in love. There is nothing that should set a person
higher in his own esteem ; and we women would prize
nothing more dearly,"

"Vou are very good," he said; "but you cannot

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

make me forget that I y

s asked in pity and not fot

" I am not so sure of that," she replied, holding
; to an end, Monsieur de
must despise me ; I feel
,m too poor a creature to
mind, aJthough, alas ! you
But when I asked you

down her head,
Beaulieu, I know how you
you are right to do so ; I :
occupy one thought of your
must die for me this morning.

to marry me, indeed, and mdeed, it was because I
respected and admired you, and loved you with my
whole soul, from the very moment that you took my
part against my uncle. If you had seen yourself, and
how noble you looked, you would pity rather than
despise me. And now," she went on, hurriedly check-
ing him with her hand, "although I have laid aside all
reserve and told you so much, remember that I know
your sentiments towards me already, I would not,
believe me, being nobly born, weary you with impor-
tunities into consent. I too have a pride of my own :
and I declare before the hoiy mother of God, if you
should now go back from your word already given, I
would no more marry you than I would marry my
uncle's groom."

Denis smiled a little bitterly.

"It is a small love," he said, " that shies at a little
pride,"

She made no answer, although she probably had her
own thoughts.

" Come hither to the window," he said with a sigh.
"Here is the dawn."

And indeed the dawn was already beginning. The
hollow of the sky was full of essential daylight, color-
less and clean ; and the valley underneath was flooded
with a gray reflection. A few thin vapors clung in the
coves of the forest or lay along the winding course ot
the river. The scene disengaged a surprising effect of
Etillness, which was hardly interrupted when the cocks
began once more to crow among the steadings. Per-
haps the same fellow who had made so horrid a clangoi

L

THE SIRE DE MAL&TROIT'S DOOR. 003

in the darkness not half an hour before, now sent up the
merriest cheer to greet the coming day. A little wind
went bustling and eddying among the tree-tops under-
neath the windows. And still the daylight kept flood-
ing insensibly out of the east, which was soon to grow
incandescent and cast up that red-hot cannon-ball, the

Denis looked out over all this with a bit of a shiver.
He had taken her hand, and retained it in his almost
unconsciously.

" Has the day begun already ? " she said ; and then,
illogically enough ; " the night has been so long !
Alas ! what shall we say to my uncle when he returns ? "

"What you will," said Denis, and he pressed her fin-
gers in his.

She was silent.

" Blanche," he said, with a swift, uncertain, passion-
ate utterance, "you have seen whether 1 fear death.
You must know well enough that I would as gladly
leap out of that window into the empty air as to lay a
finger on you without your free and full consent. But
if you care for me at all do not let me lose my life in a
misapprehension ; for I love you better than the whole
world ; and though I will die for you blithely, it would
be hke all the joys of Paradise to live on and spend my
life in your service."

As he stopped speaking, a belt began to ring loudly
in the interior of the house ; and a clatter of armor in
the corridor showed that the retainers were returning
to their post, and the two hours were at an end.

" After all that you have heard ? " she whispered,
leaning towards him with her lips and eyes.

" I have heard nothing," he replied.

"The captain's name was Florimond de Champ-
divers," she said in his ear.

" I did not hear it," he answered, taking her supple
body in his arms, and covered her wet face with kisses.

A melodious chirping was audible behind, followed
by a beautiful chuckle, and the voice of Messire de
Mal^troit wished his new nephew a eood morcinE.

PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR.

L

PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR.

CHAPTER I.

MONSIEUR LEON BERTHELINI had a great
care of his appearance, and sedulously suited
his deportment to the costume of the hour. He
afifected something Spanish in his att, and something
of the bandit, with a flavor of Rembrandt at home
In person he was decidedly small and inclined to be
stout ; his face was the picture of good humor ; his
dark eyes, which were very expressive, told of a kind
heart, a brisk, merry nature, and the most indefatigable
spirits. If he had worn the clothes of the period you
would have set him down for a hitherto undiscovered
hybrid between the barber, the innkeeper, and the
affable dispensing chemist. But in the outrageous
bravery of velvet jacket and flapped hat, with trousers
that were more accurately described as fleshings, a
white handkerchief cavalierly knotted at his neck, a
shock of Olympian curls upon his brow, and his feet
shod through all weathers in the slenderest of Molifere
shoes — you had but to look at him and you knew you
were in the presence of a Great Creature. When he
wore an overcoat he scorned to pass the sleeves ; a
single button held it round his shoulders ; it was
tossed backwards after the manner of a cloak, and
carried with the gait and presence of an Almaviva. I
am of opinion that M. Berthelini was nearing forty.
But he had a boy's heart, gloried in his finery, and
walked through life like achiid in a perpetual dramatic
performance. If he were not Almaviva after all, it
was not for lack of making believe. And he enjoyed
the artist's compensation. If he were not really
297

298 NE W ARABIAN NIGHTS.

Almaviva, he was sometimes just as happy as thou^
he were.

I have seen him, at moments when he has fancied
himself alone with his Maker, adopt so gay and
chivalrous a bearing, and represent his own part with
so much warmth and conscience, that the illusion
became catching, and I believed implicitly in the Great
Creature's pose.

But, alas ! life cannot be entirely conducted on
these principles ; man cannot live by Almavivery
alone ; and the Great Creature, having failed upon
several theatres, was obliged to step down every even-
ing from his heights, and sing from half-a-dozen to a
dozen comic songs, twang a guitar, keep a country
audience in good humor, and preside finally over the
mysteries of a tombola.

Madame Berthelini, who was art and part with him
in these undignified labors, had perhaps a higher posi-
tion in the scale of beings, and enjoyed a natural dig-
nity of her own. But her heart was not any more
rightly placed, for that would have been impossible;
and she had acquired a little air of melancholy, attrac-
tive enough in its way, but not good to see like the
wholesome, sky-scraping, boyish spirits of her lord.

He, indeed, swam like a kite on a fair wind, high
above earthly troubles. Detonations of temper were
not unfrequent in the zones he traveled; but sulky
fogs and tearful depressions were there alike unknown.
A weil-deliveredhlow upon a table, or a noble attitude,
imitated from M^lingue or Frederic, reheved his irri-
tation like a vengeance. Though the heaven had fal-
len, if he had played his part with propriety, Berthelini
had been content ! And the man's atmosphere, if not
his example, reacted on his wife; for the couple doted
on each other, and although you would have thought
they walked in different worlds, yet continued to walk
hand in hand.

It chanced one day that Monsieur and Madame
Berthelini descended with two boxes and a guitar in ,1

J

PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR. 2gg

fat case at the station of the little town of Castel-le-
Gachis, and the omnibus -carried them with their
effects to the Hotel of the Black Head. This was a
dismal, conventual building in a narrow street, capable
of standing siege when once the gates were shut, and
smelling strangely in the interior of straw and choco-
late and old feminine apparel. Berthelini paused
upon the threshold with a painful premonition. In
some former state, it seemed to hira, he had visited a
hostelry that smelt not otherwise, and been ill received.

The landlord, a tragic person in a large felt hat,
rose from a business table under the key-rack, and
came forward, removing his hat with both hands as he
did so.

" Sir, I salute you. May I inquire what is your
charge for artists ?" inquired Berthelini, with a cour-
tesy at once splendid and insinuating.

" For artists ? " said the landlord. His countenance
fell and the smile of welcome disappeared. " Oh,
artists!" he added, brutally; "four francs a day."
And he turned his back upon these inconsiderable
customers.

A commercial traveler is received, he also, upon a
reduction — yet is he welcome, yet can he command
the fatted calf; but an artist, had he the manners of
an Almaviva, were he dressed like Solomon in all his
glory, is received like a dog and served like a timid
lady traveling alone.

Accustomed as he was to the rubs of his profession,
Berthelini was unpleasantly affected by the landlord's
manner,

" Elvira," said he to his wife, "mark my words;
Castel-le-Gl.chis is a tragic folly."

" Wait tin we see what we take," replied Elvira.

"We shall take nothing," returned Berthelini; "we
shall feed upon insults. I have an eye, Elvira; I have
a spirit of divination; and this place is accursed. The
landlord has been discourteous, the Commissary will
be brutal, the audience will be sordid and uproarious,

300 NE W ARABIAN- NIG//TS.

and you will take a cold upon your throat. We have
been besotted enough to come; the die is cast — it will
be a second Sedan."

Sedan was a town hateful to the Berthelinis, not
only from patriotism (for they were French, and
answered after the flesh to the somewhat homely name
of DuvaJ), but because it had been the scene of their
most sad reverses. In that place they had lain three
weeks in pawn for their hotel bill, and had it not been
for a surprising stroke of fortune they might have been
lying there in pawn until this day. To mention the
name of Sedan was for the Berthelinis to dip the brush
in earthquake and eclipse. Count Almaviva slouched
his hat with a gesture expressive of despair, and even
Elvira felt as if ill-fortune had been personally invoked.

" Let us ask for breakfast," said she, with a woman's
tact.

The Commissary of Police of Caste!- le-Gic his was
a large red Commissary, pimpled, and subject to a
strong cutaneous transpiration. I have repeated the
name of his office because he was so very much more
a Commissary than a man. The spirit of his dignity
had entered into him. He carried his corporation as
if it were something official. Whenever he insulted
a common citizen it seemed to him as if he were
adroitly flattering the Government by a side wind; in
default of dignity he was brutal from an over-weening
sense of duty. His office was a den, whence passers-
by could hear rude accents laying down, not the law,
but the good pleasure of the Commissary.

Six several times in the course of the day did M.
Berthelini hurry thither in quest of the requisite per-
mission for his evening's entertainment; six several
limes he found the ofiicial was abroad. Leon Berthe-
lini began to grow quite a familiar figure in the streets
of Cast el-le-Gac his; he became a local celebrity, and
was pointed out as " the man who was looking for the
Commissary." Idle children attached themselves to
his footsteps, and trotted after him back and forward

J

PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR.

301

between the hotel and the office. Leon might try as
he liked; he might roll cigarettes, he might straddle,
he might cock his hat at a dozen different jaunty
inclinations — the part of Almaviva was, under the
circumstances, difficult to play.

As he passed the market-place upon the seventh
excursion the Commissary was pointed out to him,
where he stood, with his waistcoat unbuttoned and his
hands behind his back, to superintend the sale and
measurement of butter. Berthelini threaded his way
through themarket stalls and baskets, and accosted the
dignitary with a bow which was a triumph of the
histrionic art.

" I have the honor," he asked, " of meeting M. le
Commissaire ? "

The Commissary was affected by the nobility of his
address. He excelled Leon in the depth if not in the
airy grace of his salutation,

' The honor," said he, " is mine ! "

"I am," continued the strolling-player, "I am, sir,
an artist, and I have permitted myself to interrupt you
on an affair of business. To-night 1 give a trifling
musical entertainment at the caffi of the Triumphs of
the Plough — permit me to offer you this little pro-
gramme — and I have come to ask you for the necessary
authorization."

At the word " artist," the Commissary had replaced
his hat with the air of a person who, having conde-
scended too far, should suddenly remember the duties
of his rank.

"Go, go," said he, " I am busy — I am measuring
butter."

" Heathen Jew I " thought Leon. " Permit me,
sir," he resumed, aloud. " I have gone sis times
already "

"Put up your bills if you choose," interrupted
the Commissary. " In an hour or so I will exam-
ine your papers at the office, But now go : I am

L

3°'

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

"Measuring butter?" thought BerthelinL "Oh,
France, and it is for this that we made '93 ! ''

The preparations were soon made; the bills posted,
programmes laid on the dinner-table of every hotel in
the town, and a stage erected at one end of the Cafe
of the Triumphs of the Plough; but when Leon
returned to the office, the Commissary was once more
abroad.

"He is like Madame Benoiton," thought Leon,
" Fichu Commissaire ! "

And just then he met the man face to face.

" Here, sir," said he, " are my papers. Will you bo
pleased to verify ?"

But the Commissary was now intent upon dinner,

"No use," he replied, "no use; I am busy; I aiH
quite satisfied. Give your entertainment"

And he hurried on.

** f icbu Commissaire I " thought Lean*

CHAPTER II.

The audience was pretty large; and the proprietor
of the caf6 made a good thing of it in beer. But the
Berthelinis exerted themselves in vain.

Leon was radiant in velveteen; he had a rakish way
of smoking a cigarette between his songs that was
worth.money in itself; he underlined his comic points,
so that the dullest numskull in Castel-le-Gachis had a
notion when to laugh; and he handled his guitar in a
manner worthy of himself. Indeed his play with that
instrument was as good as a whole romantic drama; it
was so dashing, so florid, and so cavalier.

Elvira, on the other hand, sang her patriciic and
romantic songs with more than usual expression; her
voice had charm and plangency; and as Leon looked
at her, in her low-bodied maroon dress, with her arms
bare to the shoulder, and a red flower set provocatively
in her corset, he repeated to himself for the many hun-
dredth time that she was one of the loveliest creatures
in the world of women.

Alas ! when she went round with the tambourine,
the golden youth of Castel-le-Gichis turned from her
coldly. Here and there a single halfpenny was forth-
coming ; the net result of a collection never exceeded
half a franc ; and the Maire himself, after seven differ-
ent applications, had contributed exactly twopence. A
certain chill began "o settle upon the artists themselves ;
it seemed as if they were singing to slugs; Apollo him-
self might have lost heart with such an audience. The
Berthelinis struggled against the impression ; they put
their back into their work, they sang loud and louder,
the guitar twanged like a living thing; and at last Leon
arose in his might, and burst with inimitable conviction
into his great song, "Y a des honnites gens par tout !"
Never had he given more proof of his artistic mastery;
303

304

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

it was his intimate, indefeasible conviction that Castel*
le-Gachis formed an exception to the law he was now
lyrically proclaiming, and was peopled exclusively by
thieves and bullies; and yet, as I say, he flung it down
like a challenge, he trolled it forth like an article of
faith ; and his face so beamed the while that you would
have thought he must make converts of the benches.

He was at the top of his register, with his head
thrown back and his mouth open, when the door was
thrown violently open, and a pair of new comers
marched noisily into the cafe. It was the Commissary,
followed by the Garde Champ^tre.

The undaunted Berthelini still continued to proclaim,
" Y a des honnetes gens partout ! " But now the sen-
timent produced an audible titter among the audience,
Berthelini wondered why ; he did not know the ante-
cedents of the Garde Champfitre ; he had never heard
of a little story about postage stamps. But the public
knew all about the postage stamps, and enjoyed the
coincidence hugely.

The Commissary planted himself iipon a vacant chair
with somewhat the air of Cromwell visiting the Rump,
and spoke in occasional whispers to the Garde Cham-
petre, who remained respectfully standing at his back.
The eyes of both were directed upon Berthelini, who
persisted in his siatement.

" Y a des honnStes gens partout," he was just chant-
ing for the twentieth time; when up got the Commissary
upon his feet and waved brutally to tlie singer with his
cane.

"Is it me you want ?" inquired Leon, stopping in
his song,

' It is you," replied the potentate.

" Fichu Commissaire ! " thought Leon, and he
descended from the stage and made his way to the
functionary,

"How does it happen, sir," said the Commissary,
swelling in person, " ihat I find you mountebanking

a public caf6 without my permission ? "

'

PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR.

30s

"Without?" cried the indignant Leon. "Permit
me to remind you- — —"

" Come, come, sir ! " said the Commissary, " I desire
no explanations."

"I care nothing about what you desire," returned
the singer. " I choose to give thum, and I wilt not be
gagged. I am an artist, sir, a distinction that you
cannot comprehend. I received your permission and
stand here upon the strength of it ; interfere with me
who dare."

" Vou have not got my signature, I tell you," cried
the Commissary. ' Show me my signature ! Where
is my signature ? "

That was just the question; where was his signature ?
Leon recognized that he was in a hole ; but his spirit
rose with the occasion, and he blustered nobly, tossing
back his curls. The Commissary played up to him in
the character of tyrant ; and as the one leaned farther
forward, the other leaned farther back — majesty con-
fronting fury. The audience had transferred their
attention to this new performance, and listened with
that silent gravity common to all Frenchmen in the
neighborhood of the police- Elvira had sat down, she
was used to these distractions, and it was rather melan-
choly than fear that now oppressed her,

"Another word," cried the Commissary, "and I
arrest you."

" Arrest me ! " shouted I^on. " I defy you ! "
" I am the Commissary of Police," said the official-
Leon commanded his feelings, and replied, with
great delicacy of innuendo —
"So it would appear,"

The point was too refined for Castel-le-Gtchis ; it
did not raise a smile ; and as for the Commissary, he
simply bade the singer follow him to his office, and
directed his proud footsteps towards the door. There
was nothing for it but to obey. Leon did so with a
proper pantomime of indifference, but it was a leek to
eat, and there was no denying it.

3o6

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

The Maire had slipped out and was already waiting
at the Commissary's door. Now the Maire, in France,
is the refuge of the oppressed. He stands between his
people and the boisterous rigors of the Pohce. He can
sometimes understand what is said to him ; he is not
always puffed up beyond measure by his dignity, 'Tis
a thing worth the knowledge of travelers. When all
seems over, and a man has made up his mind to injus-
tice, he has still, hke the heroes of romance, a httle
bugle at his belt whereon to blow ; and the Maire, a
comfortable deus ex mackina, may still descend to
deliver him from the minions of the law. The Maire
of Castel-le-GJtchis, although inaccessible to the charms
of music as retailed by the Berthelinis, had no hesita-
tion whatever as to the rights of the matter. He
instantly fell foul of the Commissary in very high
terms, and the Commissary, pricked by this humilia-
tion, accepted battle on the point of fact. The argu-
ment lasted some little while with varying success,
until at length victory inclined so plainly to the Com-
missary's side that the Maire was fain to re-assert him-
self by an exercise of authority. He had been out-
argued, but he was still the Maire. And so, turning
from his interlocutor, he briefly but kindly recom-
mended Leon to go back instanter to his concert.

" It is already growing late," he added.

Leon did not wait to be told twice. He returned to
the Caf^ of the Triumphs of the Plough with all expe-
dition. Alas ! the audience had melted away during
his absence; Elvira was sitting in a very disconsolate
attitude on the guitar-box; she had watched the com-
pany dispersing by twos and threes, and the prolonged
spectacle had somewhat overwhelmed her spirits.
Each man, she reflected, retired with a certain propor-
tion of her earnings in his pockets, and she saw
to-night's board and to-morrow's railway expenses, and
finally even to-morrow's dinner, walk one alter anothef
out of the caf^ door and disappear into the night.

" What was it ? " she asked, languidly.

PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR.

307

But Leon did not answer. He was looking round
him on the scene of defeat. Scarce a score of
listeners remained, and these of the least promising
sort. The minute hand of the clock was already
climbing upward towards eleven.

" It's a lost battle," said he, and then taking up the
money-box, he turned it out. "Three francs seventy-
five ! " he cried, " as against four of board and six of
railway fares; and no time for the tombola ! Elvira,
this is Waterloo." And he sat down and passed both
hands desperately among his curls. "O Fichu Com-
missaire 1 " he cried, " Fichu Commissaire ! "

" Let us get the things together and be off," returned
Elvira. "We might try another song, but there is not
six halfpence in the room."

" Six halfpence ? " cried Leon, " six hundred thou-
sand devils ! There is not a human creature in the
town — nothing but pigs and dogs and commissaries !
Pray heaven, we get safe to bed."

"Don't imagine things !" exclaimed Elvira, with a
shudder.

And with that they set to work on their prepara-
tions. The tobacco-jar, the cigarette-holder, the three
papers of shirt-studs, which were to have been the
prizes of the tombola had the tombola come off, were
made into a bundle with the music; the guitar was
stowed into the fat guitar-case; and Elvira having
thrown a thin shawl about her neck and shoulders, the
pair issued from the cafe and set off for the Black
Head.

As they crossed the market-place the church bell
rang out eleven. It was a dark, mild night, and there
was no one in the streets.

"It is all very fine," said Leon: "but I have a pre-
sentiment. The night is not yet done."

: chink of
light upon the street, and the carriage gate was closed.

" This is unprecedented," observed Leon. " An inn
closed by five minutes after eleven ! And there were
several commercial travelers in the caf^ up to a late
hour. Elvira, my heart misgives me. Let us ring the
bdl."

The bell had a potent note; and being swung under
the arch it filled the house from top to bottom with
surly, clanging reverberations. The sound accentuated
the conventual appearance of the building; a wintry
sentiment, a thought of prayer and mortification, took
hold upon Elvira's mind; and as for Leon, he seemed
to be reading the stage directions for a, lugubrious
fifth act.

"This is your fault," said Elvira: "this is what
conies of fancying things ! "

Again Leon pulied the bell-rope; again the solemn
tocsin awoke the echoes of the inn; and ere they had
died away, a light glimmered in the carriage entrance,
and a powerful voice was heard upraised and tremulous
with wrath.

" What's all this ? " cried the tragic host through the
spars of the gate, " Hard upon twelve, and you come
clamoring like Prussians at the door of a respectable
hotel ? Oh ! " he cried, " I know you now ! Common
singers ! People in trouble with the police ! And you
present yourselves at midnight like lords and ladies ?
Be off with you ! "

" You will permit me to remind you," said L^on, in
thrilling tones, " that I am a guest in your house, that
I am properly inscribed, and that I have deposited
baggage to the value of four hundred francs."

PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR.

309

"You cannot get in at this hour," returned the man.
" This is no thieves' tavern, for mohocks and night
rakes and organ-grinders."

"Brute!" cried Elvira, for the organ -grindera
touched her home.

" Then I demand my baggage," said Leon, with una-
bated dignity.

"I know nothing of your baggage," replied th?
landlord.

"You detain my baggage ? You dare to detain ray
baggage ? " cried the singer.

Who are you?" returned the landlord. "It \%
dark — I cannot recognize you,"

" Very well, then — you detain my baggage," con-
cluded L^on. " You shall smart for this. I wilt weary
out your life with persecutions; I will drag you from
court to court; if there is justice to be had in France,
it shall be rendered between you and me. And I will
make you a by-word — ^I will put you in a song — a
scurrilous song — an indecent song — a popular song —
which the boys shall sing to you in the street, and come
and howl through these spars at midnight ! "

He had gone on raising his voice at every phrase, for
all the while the landlord was very placidly retiring ;
and now, when the last glimmer of light had vanished
from the arch, and the last footstep died away in the
interior, Lfion turned to his wife with a heroic coun-
tenance.

" Elvira," said he, " I have now a duty in life. I
shall destroy that man as Eug&ne Sue destroyed the
concierge. Let us come at once to the Gendarmerie
and begin our vengeance."

He picked up the guitar- case, which had been
propped against the wall, and they set forth through
the silent and ill-lighted town with burning hearts.

The Gendarmerie was concealed beside the telegraph
office at the bottom of a vast court, which was partly
laid out in gardens; and here all the shepherds of the
public lay locked in grateful sleep. It took a deal of

L

310

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

knocking to waken one; and he, when he came at last
to the door, could find no other remark but that " it
was none of his business." L^on reasoned with him,
threatened him, besought him; "here," he said, "was
Madame Berthelini in evening dress — a delicate woman
— in an interesting condition " — the last was thrown in,
I fancy, for effect; and to all this the man-at-arms
made the same answer :

" It is none of my business," said he.

"Very well," said L6on, "then we shall go to the
Commissary." Thither they went ; the oifice was
closed and dark; but the house was close by, and L^on
was soon swinging the bell like a madman. The Com-
missary's wife appeared at a window. She was a thread-
paper creature, and informed them that the Commissary
had not yet come home.

" Is he at the Maire's ? " demanded Leon,

She thought that was not unlikely.

"Where is the Maire's house?" he asked.

And she gave him some rather vague information on
that point.

"Stay you here, Elvira," said Leon, "lest I should
miss him by the way. If, when I return, I find you
here no longer, I shall follow at once to the Black
Head."

And he set out to find the Maire's. It took him
some ten minutes wandering among blind lanes, and
when he arrived it was already half an hour past mid-
night. A long white garden wall overhung by some
thick chestnuts, a door with a letter-box, and an iron
bell-pull, that was all that could be seen of the Maire's
domicile. Ldon took the bell-pull in both hands, and
danced furiously upon the side-walk. The bell itself
was just upon the other side of the wall, it responded
to his activity, and scattered an alarming clangor far
and wide into the night,

A window was thrown open in a house across the
Etreet, and a voice inquired the cause of this untimely
uproar.

PROVIDENCE AND THE CUTTAS. 31 1

"1 wish the Maire," said Leon.

" He has been in bed this hour," returned the voice.

" He must get up again," retorted Leon, and he was
for tackling the bell-pull once more.

"Vou will never make him hear," responded the
voice. " The garden is of great extent, the house is at
the farther end, and both the Maire and his housekeeper
are deaf."

" Aha ! " said Leon, pausing. " The Maire is deaf,
is he ? That explains." And he thought of the e»en-
ing's concert with a momentary feeling of relief.
"Ah ! " he continued, "and so the Maire is deaf, and
the garden vast, and the house at the far end ? "

"And you might ring all night," added the voice,
" and be none the belter for it You would only keep

"Thank you, neighbor," replied the singer. "You
shall sleep."

And he made off again at his best pace for the Com-
missary's, Elvira was still walking to and fro before
the door.

" He has not come ? " asked Leon.

" Not he," she rephed.

" Good," returned Leon. " I am sure our man's
inside. Let me see the guitar-case. I shall lay this
siege in form, Elvira; .1 am angry; I am indignant; I
am truculently inclined; but I thank my Maker I have
still a sense of fun. The unjust judge shall be impor-
tuned in a serenade,Elvira. Set him up — and set him up."

He had the case opened by this time, struck a few
chords, and fell into an attitude which was irresistibly
Spanish.

" Now," he continued, " feel your voice. Are you
ready ? Follow mc ! "

The guitar twanged, and the two voices upraised, in
harmony and with a startling loudness, the chorus of a
Bong of old B6ranger'si —

The stones of Castel-le-G^cliis tbrilled at this auda-
cious innovation. Hitherto had the night been sacred
to repose and nightcaps; and now what was this?
Window after window was opened; matches scratched,
and candles began to flicker; swollen sleepy faces
peered forth into the starlight. There were two
figures before the Commissary's house, each bolt
upright, with head thrown back and eyes interrogating
the starry heavens; the guitar wailed, shouted, ana
reverberated like half an orchestra; and the voices,
with a crisp and spirited delivery, hurled the appro-
priate burden at the Commissary's window. All the
echoes repeated the functionary's name. It was more
like an entr'acte in a farce of Molifere's tha
of real life in Castel-le-Gachis,

The Commissary, if he was not the first, was Dot
the last of the neighbors to yield to the influence of
music, and furiously throw open the window of his
bedroom. He was beside himself with rage. He
leaned far over the window-sill, raving and gesticu-
lating ; the tassel of his white night-cap danced like a
thing of life: he opened his mouth to dimensions
hitherto unprecedented, and yet his voice, instead of
escaping from it in a roar, came forth shrill and choked
and tottering. A little more serenading, and it was
clear he would he better acquainted with the apo-

I scorn to reproduce his language; he touched upon
too many serious topics by the way for a quiet story-
teller. Although he was known for a man who was
prompt with his tongue, and had a power of strong
expression at command, he excelled himself so remark-
ably this night,that one maiden lady, who had got out
of bed like the rest to hear the serenade, was obliged
to shut her window at the second clause. Even what
she had heard disquieted her conscience; and next day
she said she scarcely reckoned as a maiden lady any
longer.

Leon tried to explain his predicament, but hti

PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR. 313

received nothing but threats of arrest by way of
answer,

" If I come down to you ! " cried the Comiaissary.

"Aye," said Leon, "do!"

" I will not ! " cried the Commissary.

"You dare not ! " answered Leon.

At that the Commissary closed his window.

"All is over," said the singer. "The serenade was
perhaps ill-judged. These boors have no sense of
humor."

"Let us get away from here," said Elvira, with a
shiver. " All these people looking — it is so rude and
so brutal." And then giving way once more to passion
— "Brutes!" she cried aloud to the candle-lit specta-
tors — "brutes! brutes I brutes."

"Sauve qui peut," said Leon. "You have done it
now ! "

And taking the guitar in one hand and the case in
the other, he led the way with something too precipi-
tate to be merely called precipitation from the scene
of this absurd adventure'

A
1

CHAPTER IV.

To the west of Castel-le-Gachis four rows-of vener-
able lime-trees fonned, in this starry night, a twilit
avenue with two side aisles of pitch darkness. Here
and there stone benches were disposed between Che
trunks. There was not a breath of wind ; a heavy
atmosphere of perfume hung about the alleys ; and
every leaf stood stock-still upon its twig. Hither,
after vainly knocking at an inn or two, the Berthelinis
came at length to pass the night. After an amiable
contention, Leon insisted on giving his coal to Elvira,
and they sat down together on the first bench in
silence. Leon made a cigarette, which he smoked to
an end, looking up into the trees, and, beyond them,
at the constellations, of which he tried vainly to recall
the names. The silence was broken by the church
bell ; it rang the four quarters on a light and tinkling
measure ; then followed a single deep stroke that died
slowly away with a thrill ; and stillness resumed its
empire.

' One," said Leon. " Four hours till daylight. It
is warm ; it is starry; I have matches and tobacca
Do not let us exaggerate, Elvira — the experience is
positively charming. I feel a glow within me ; I am
born again. This is the poetry of life. Think of
Cooper's novels, my dear."

" Leon," she said, fiercely, " how can you talk such
wicked, infamous nonsense ? To pass all night out of
doors — it is like a nightmare ! We shall die."

"You suffer yourself to be led away," he replied,
soothingly. "It is not unpleasant here; only you
brood. Come, now, let us repeat a scene. Shall we try
Alceste and C^lim^ne ? No ? Or a passage from the
'Two Orphans?' Come, now, it will occupy yoiu
314

L

PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR. 315

mind ; I will play up to you as I never have played
before ; I feel art moving in my bones."

" Hold your tongue," she cried, " or you will drive
me mad ! Will nothing solemnize you — not even this
hideous situation ? "

" Oh, hideous ! " objected Leon. " Hideous is not
the word. Why, where would you be? 'Dites, la
jeune belle, oti voulez-vouz aller ? ' " he carolled.
'Well, now," he went on, opening the guitar-case,
** there's another idea for yoo — sing. Sing ' Dites, la
jeune belle ! ' It will compose your spirits, Elvira, I

And without waiting an answer he began to strum
the symphony. The first chords awoke a young man
who was lying asleep upon a neighbouring bench.

" Hullo ! " cried the young man, " who are you ? "

" Under which king, Bezonian ? " declaimed the
artist. " Speak or die ! "

Or if it was not exactly that, it was something to
much the same purpose from a French tragedy.

The young man drew near in the twiHght. He was
a tall, powerful, gentlemanly fellow, with a somewhat
puffy face, dressed in a gray tweed suit, with a deer-
stalker hat of the same material ; and as he now came
forward he carried a knapsack slung upon one arm,

"Are you camping out here, too ? " he asked, with a
strong English accent " I'm not sorry for com-
pany."

Leon explained their misadventure; and the other
told them that he was a Cambridge undergraduate on a
walking tour, that he had run short of money, could
no longer pay for his night's lodging, had already been
camping out for two nights, and feared he should
require to continue the same raanceuvre for at least
two nights more.

" Luckily, it's jolly weather," he concluded.

" You hear that, Elvira," said Leon. " Madame
Berthelini," he went on, " is ridiculously afEected by
this trifling occurrence. For my part, I find it roman-

3l6 NEW ARABIAN NIGl/TS

tic and far from uncomfortable ; or at least,"
added, shifting on the stone bench, "not quite so
uncomfortable as might have been expected. But
pray be seated."

"Yes," returned the undergraduate, sitting down,
" it's rather nice than otherwise when once you're used
lo it ; only it's devilish difficult to get washed. I like
the fresh air and these stars and tilings."

"Aha I " said Leon, " Monsieur is an artist."

"An artist?" returned the other, with a blank stare.
" Not if I know it I "

"Pardon me," said the actor. "What you said this
moment about the orbs of heaven "

" Oh, nonsense ! " cried the Englishman. "A fellow
may admire the stars and be anything he likes."

' You have an artist's nature, however, Mr. I

begyour pardon ; may I, without indiscretion, inquire
your name ? " asked Leon.

" My name is Stubbs," replied the Englishman.

" I thank you," returned Leon. " Mine is Berthe-
lini — Leon Berthelini, ex-artist of the theatres of Mont-
rouge, Belleville, and Montmartre. Humble as you
see me, I have created with applause more than one
important rSIe. The Press were unanimous in praise
of my Howling Devil of the Mountains, in the piece
of the same name. Madame, whom I now present to
you, is herself an artist, and I must not omit to state,
a better artist than her husband. She also is a crea-
tor ; she created nearly twenty successful songs at one
of the principal Parisian music-halls. But, to con-
tinue, I was saying you had an artist's nature, Mon-
sieur Stubbs, and you must permit me to be a judge in
such a question. I trust you will not falsify your
instincts ; let me beseech you to follow the career of
an artist."

"Thank you," returned Stubbs, with a chuckle.
" I'm going to be a banker."

" No," said Leon, " do not say so. Not that, A man
with such a nature aa yours should not derogate so far.

-I

PhOVJDENCE AND THE GUITAR. 317

What are a few privalions here and there, so long as
you are working for a high and noble goal ? "

"Tiiia fellow's mad," thought Stubbs; "but the
woman's rather pretty, and he's not bad fun for
himself, if you come to that. What he said was different
" I thought you said you were an actor \ "

** J certainly did so," replied Leon. "I am one, or,
alas ! I was."

"And so you want me to be an actor, do you?"
continued the undergraduate. " Why, man, I could
never so much as learn the stuff ; my memory's like a
sieve ; and as for acting, I've no more idea than acat."

" The stage is not the only course," said Leon. " Be
a sculptor, be a dancer, be a poet or a novelist ; follow
your heart, in short, and do some thorough work before
you die."
" And do you call these things art i " inquired Stubbs.

" Why, certainly ! " returned Leon. " Are they not
all branches ? "

" Oh ! I didn't know," replied the Englishman. " I
thought an artist meant a fellow who painted."

The singer stared at him in some surprise.

" It is the difference of language," he said at last.
'• This Tower of Babel,when shall we have paid for it? If
I could speak English you wouldfollowmemore readily."

" Between you and me, I don't believe I should,"
replied the other. " You seem to have thought a devil
of a lot about this business. For my part, I admire the
stars, and like to have them shining — it's so cheery—
but hang me if I had an idea it had anything to do with
art ! It's not in my line, you see. I'm not intellec-
tual ; I have no end of trouble to scrape through ray
exams., I can tell you ! But I'm not a bad sort at
bottom," he added, seeing his interlocutor looked dis-
tressed even in the dim starshine, " and I rather like
the play, and music, and guitars, and things."

Leon had a perception that the understanding was
incomplete. He changed the subject.

" And so you travel on foot ? " he continued. " How

JIS N£}i- ARABIA17 NIGHTS,

romantic ' How courageous ! And how are yoa
pleased with my land ? How does the scenery affecl
you among these wild hills of ours .' "

" Well, the fact is," began Stubbs — he was about to
say that he didn't care for scenery, which was not at
all true, being, on the contrary, only an athletic under-
graduate pretension ; but he had begun to suspect that
Berthelini hked a different sort of meat, and substituted
something else — "The fact is, I think it jolly. They
told me it was no good up here ; even the guide-book
said so ; but I don't know what they meant. I think
it is deuced pretty — upon my word, I do."

At this moment, in the most unexpected manner,
Elvira burst into tears.

" My voice ! " she cried. " Leon, if I stay here
longer I shall lose my voice ! "

" You shall not stay another moment, " cried the
*ctor. " If I have to beat in a door, if I have to bum
the town, I shall find you shelter."

With that, he replaced the guitar, and comforting
her with some caresses, drew her arm through his.

" Monsieur Stubbs," said he, taking off his hat, " the
-eception I offer you is rather problematical ; but let
me beseech you to give us the pleasure of your society.
You are a little embarrassed for the moment ; you
must, indeed, permit me to advance what may be neces-
sary. I ask it as a favor ; we must not part so soon
after having met so strangely."

"Oh, come, you know," said Stubbs, "I can't let a

fellow hke you " And there he paused, feeling

somehow or other on a wrong tack.

" I do not wish to employ menaces," continued Leon,
with a smile ; " but if you refuse, indeed I shall not
take it kindly."

" I don't quite see my way out of it," thought the
undergraduate ; and then, after a pause, he said, aloud
and ungraciously enough, " All right. I — I'm very
muchobliged, of course." And he proceeded to folk "
them, thinking in his heart, " But it's bad form, allj|
■ame, to force an oblioation on a fellow."

CHAPTER V.

Leon strode ahead as if he knew exactly where he
was going; the sobs of Madame were still faintly audi-
hle, and no one uttered a word, A dog barked furi-
ously in a court-yard as they went by; then the church
clock struck two, and many domestic clocks followed
or preceded it in piping tones. And just then Berthe-
lini spied a light. It burned in a small house on the
outskirts of the town, and thither the party now
directed their steps.

" It is always a chance," said Leon.

The house in question stood back from the street
behind an open space, part garden, part turnip field;
and several outhouses stood forward from either wing
at right angles to the front. One of these had recently
undergone some change. An enormous window, look-
ing towards the north, had been effected in the wall
and roof, and Leon began to hope it was a studio.

"If it's only a painter," he said, with a chuckle,
"ten to one we get as good a welcome as we want."

"I thought painters were principally poor," said
Stubbs.

"Ah," cried L6on, "you do not know the world as
I do. The poorer the better for us."

And the trio advanced into the turnip field.

The light was in the ground floor; as one window
was brightly illuminated and two others more faintly,
it might be supposed that there was a single lamp in
one corner of a large apartment; and a certain tremu-
lousness and temporary dwindling showed that a live
fire contributed to the effect. The sound of a voice
now became audible ; and the trespassers paused to
listen. It was pitched in a high, angry key, but had
fitill a good, full, and masculine note in it The utter-
319

NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

ance was voluble, too voluble even to be quite distinct;
a stream of words, rising and falling, with ever and
. by itself, as if the speaker

e joined ii

s time It was

again a [ihrase thrown o
reckoned on its virtue.

Suddenly another voic
a woman's; and if the man were
incensed to the degree of fury. There was that abso-
lutely blank composure known to suffering males; that
colorless unnatural speech which shows a spirit accu-
rately balanced between homicide and hysterics; the
tone in which the best of women sometimes utter words
worse than death to those most dear to them. If
Abstract Bones- and -Sepulchre were to be endowed with
the gift of speech, thus, and not otherwise, would it
discourse. L^on was a brave man, and I fear he was
somewhat sceptically given (he had been educated in a
Papistical country), but the habit of childhood pre-
vailed, and he crossed himself devoutly. He had met
several women in his career. It was obvious that his
instinct had not deceived him, for the male voice broke
fortli instantly in a towering passion.

The undergraduate, who had not understood the
significance of the woman's contribution, pricked up
his ears at the change upon the man.

" There's going to be a free light," he opined.

There was another retort from the woman, still calm
but a litde higher.

" Hysterics ? " asked Leon of his wife, " Is that the
stage direction ? "

' How should I know ? " returned Elvira, somewhat
tartly.

"Oh, woman, woman!" said Leon, beginning to
open the guitar-case. " It is one of the burdens of my
life. Monsieur Stubbs; tbey support each other; they
always pretend there is no system ; they say it's
nature. Even Madame Berthelini, who is a dramatic
artist! "

" You are heartless, Leon," said Elvira : " that
woman is in trouble,"

PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR.

321

"And the man, my angel?" inquired Berthelini,
passing the ribbon of his guitar. " And the man,

" He is a man," she answered.

" You hear that ? " said Leon to Stubbs, " It is not
too late for you. Mark the intonation. And now,"
he continued, " what are we to give them ? "

" Are you going to sing ? " asked Stubbs.

"I am a troubadour," replied Leon. "I claim a
welcome by and for my art. If I were a banker could
I do as much ?"

" Well, you wouldn't need, you know," aswered the
undergraduate.

"Egad," said Leon, "but that's true. Elvira, that

" Of course it is," she replied. " Did you not know
it?"

"My dear," answered Leon, impressively, "I know
nothing but what is agreeable. Even my knowledge
of life is a work of art superiorly composed. But
what are we to give them? It should be something
appropriate."

Visions of " Let dogs delight " passed through the
undergraduate's mind; but it occurred to him that the
poetry was English and that he did not know the air.
Hence he contributed no suggestion.

" Something about our houselessness," said Elvira,

"I have it," cried Leon. And he broke forth into
asongof Pierre Dupont's: —

SavetvDus on gile
Mai, ce joli ntoia?

Elvira joined in; so did Stubbs, with a good ear
and voice, but an imperfect acquaintance with the
music. Leon and the guitar were equal to the situa-
tion. The actor dispensed his throat-notes with prod-
igality and enthusiasm; and, as he looked up to heaven
in his heroic way, tossing the black ringlets, it seemed
to him that the very stars contributed a dumb applause

L

333 /iTEW ARABIAN NIGHTS.

to his efforts, and the universe lent him its silence foi
a chorus. That is one of the best features of tho
heavenly bodies, that they belong to everybody in par-
ticular; and a man hke L^on, a chronic Endymion
who managed to get along without encouragement,
is always the world's centre for himself.

He alone — and it is to be noted, he was the worst
singer of the three — took the music seriously to heart,
and judged the serenade from a high artistic point of
view. Elvira, on the other hand, was preoccupied
about their reception; and, as for Stubbs, he consid-
ered the whole affair in the light of a broad joke.

" Know you the lair of May, the lovely month ? "
went the three voices in the turnip-field

The inhabitants were plainly fluttered; the light
moved to and fro, strengthening in one window,
paling in another; and then the door was thrown open,
and a man in a blouse appeared on the threshold car-
rying a lamp. He was a powerful young fellow, with
bewildered hair and beard, wearing his neck open; his
blouse was stained with oil-colors in a harlequinesque
disorder; and there was something rural in the droop
and bagginess of his belted trousers.

From immediately behind him, and indeed over hia
shoulder, a woman's face looked out into the darkness;
it was pale and a httle weary, although still young; it
I dwindling, disappearing prettiness, soon to be
quite gone, and the expression was both gentle and
sour, and reminded one faintly of the. taste of certain
drugs. For all that, it was not a face to dislike; when
the prettiness had vanished, it seemed as if a certain
pale beauty might step in to take its place; and as
both the mildness and the asperity were characters of
youth, it might be hoped that, with years, both would
merge into a constant, brave, and not unkindly temper

" What is all this 7 " cried the mac

I

i

CHAPTER Vt

Leon had his hat in his hand at once. He came for*

ward with his customary grace; it was a moment which
would have earned him a round of cheering on the
stage. Elvira and Stubbs advanced behind him, like a
couple of Admetus's sheep following the god Apollo.

"Sir," said Leon, "the hour is unpardonably late,
and our little serenade has the air of an impertinence.
Beheve me, sir, it is an appeal. Monsieur is an artist,
I perceive. We are here three artists benighted and
without shelter, one a woman — a delicate woman — in
evening dress — in an interesting situation. This will
not fail to touch the woman's heart of Madame, whom
I perceive indistinctly behind Monsieur her husband,
and whose face speaks eloquently of a well-regulated
mind. Ah! Monsieur, Madame — one generous move-
ment, and you make three people happy ! Two or
three hours beside your fire — I ask it of Monsieur in
the name of Art — I ask it of Madame by the sanctity
of womanhood."

The two, as by a tacit consent, drew back from the
door.

" Come in," said the man.

"Entrez, Madame," said the woman.

The door opened directly upon the kitchen of the
house, which was to all appearance the only sitting-
room. The furniture was both plain and scanty; but
there were one or two landscapes on the wall hand-
somely framed, as if they had already visited the
commit tee -rooms of an exhibition and been thence
extruded. Leon walked up to the pictures and repre-
sented the part of a connoisseur before each in turn,
with his usual dramatic insight and force. The mas-
ter of the house, as if irresistibly attracted, followed
3»1

3^4

J^E W ARABIAN NIGHTS.

him from canvas to canvas with the lamp. Elvira was
led directly to the fire, where she proceeded to warm
herself, while Stubbs stood .in the middle of the floor
and followed the proceedings of Leon with mild aston-
ishment in his eyes.

" Von should see them by daylight," said the artist.

" I promise myself that pleasure," said Leon. " You
possess, sir, if you will permit me an observation, the
art of composition to a T."

" You are very good," returned the other. " But
should you not draw nearer to the fire ?"

" With all my heart," said Leon.

And the whole party soon gathered at the table over
a hasty and not an elegant cold supper, washed down
with the least of small wines. Nobody liked the meal,
but nobody complained; they put a good face upon it,
one and all, and made a great clattering of knives and
forks. To see Leon eating a single cold sausage was
to see a triumph; by the time he had done he had
got through as much pantomime as would have sufficed
tor a baron of beef, and he bad the relaxed expression
of the over-eaten.

As Elvira had naturally taken a place by the side of
L^on, and Stubbs as naturally, although I believe
unconsciously, by the side of Elvira, the host and
hostess were left together. Yet it was to be noted
that they never addressed a word to each other, nor
so much as suffered their eyes to meet. The inter-
rupted skirmish still survived in ill feeling; and the
instant the guests departed it would break forth again
as bitterly as ever. The talk wandered from this to
that subject— for with one accord the party had
declared it was too late to go to bed ; but those two
never relaxed towards each other ; Goneril and Regan
in a sisterly tiff were not more bent on enmity.

It chanced that Elvira was so much tired by all the
little excitements of the night, that for once she laid
aside her company manners, which were both easy
and correct, and in the most natu

PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR. 325

world leaned .her head on Leon's shoulder. At the
snme time, fatigue suggesting tenderness, she locked
the fingers of her right hand into those of her hus-
band's left ; and, half-closing her eyes, dozed off into
a golden borderland between sleep and waking. But
ail the time she was not unaware of what was passinj;,
atid saw the painter's wife studying her with looks
bttween contempt and envy.

It occurred to Leon that his constitution demanded
the use of some tobacco; and he undid his fingers
from Elvira's in order to roll a cigarette. It was gen-
tly done, and he took care that his indulgence should
in no other way disturb his wife's position. But it
seemed to catch the eye of the painter's wife with a
special significancy. She looked straight before her
for an instant, and then, with a swift and stealthy
movement, took hold of her husband's hand below the
table. Alas! she might have spared herself the dex-
terity. For the poor fellow was so overcome by this
caress that he stopped with his mouth open m the
middle of a word, and by the expression of his face
plainly declared to all the company that his thoughts
had been diverted into softer channels.

If it had not been rather amiable, it would have
been absurdly droll. His wife at once withdrew her
touch; but it was plain she had to exert some force.
Thereupon the young man colored and looked for a
moment beautiful.

Leon and Elvira both observed the by-play, and a
shock passed from one lo the other; for they were
inveterate match-makers, especially between those who
were already marrieil.

■" I beg your pardon," said Leon, suddenly. " 1 see
no use in pretending. Befure we came in here we
heard sounds indicating — it I may so express myself—
an imperfect harmony."

" Sir " began the man,

But the woman was beforehand.

" It is quite true, ' she said. " I see no cause to be

/iElV ARABIAN NIGHTS.

ashamed. If my husband is mad I shall at least do
my utmost to prevent the consequences. Picture to
yourself, Monsieur and Madame," she went on, for
she passed Stubbs over, " that this wretched person—
a dauber, an incompetent, not fit to be a sign-painter
— receives this morning an admirable offer from an
uncle — an uncle of my own, my mother's brother, and
tenderly beloved — of a clerkship with nearly a hun-
dred and fifty pounds a year, and that he — picture to
yourself ! — he refuses it ! Why ? For the sake of
Art, he says. Look at his art, I say — look at it ! Is
it fit to be seen ? Ask him— is it fit to be sold t And
it is for this, Monsieur and Madame, that he con-
demns me to the most deplorable existence, without
luxuries, without comforts, in a vile suburb ol a coun-
try town. O non ! " she cried, " non — ^je ne me lairai
pas — c'est plus fort que moi ! I take these gentlemen
and this lady for judges — is this kind ? is it decent ? is
it manly ? Do I not deserve better at his hands after
having married him and" — (a visible hitch) — "done
everything in the world to please him?"

1 doubt if there were ever a more embarrassed com-
pany at a table ; everyone looked like a fool ; and the
husband like the biggest.

" The art of Monsieur, however," said Elvira, break-
ing the silence, "is not wanting in distinction."

It has this distinction," said the wife, " that nobody
will buy it."

" I should have supposed a clerkship " began

Stubbs.

" Art is Art," swept in Leon. " I salute Art. It is
the beautiful, the divine ; it is the spirit of the world,
and the pride of life. But " And the actor paused.

"A clerkship " began Stubbs.

" ni tell you what it is," said the painter. " I am
an artist, and as this gentleman says. Art is this and
the other ; but of course, if my wife is going to make
my life a piece of perdition all day long, I prefer to
and drown myself out of hand."

nake I

togo I

PROVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR.

327

" Go ! " said his wife. " I should like to see you \ "

" I was going to say," resumed Stubbs, " that a
fellow may be a clerk and paint almost as much as he
iikes. I know a fellow in a bank who makes capital
water-color sketches ; he even sold one for seven-and-
six."

To both the women this seemed a plank of safety ;
each hopefully interrogated the countenance of her
lord ; even Elvira, an artist herself i — but indeed there
must be something permanently mercantile in the
female nature. The two men exchanged a glance ; it
was tragic ; not otherwise might two philosophers
salute, as at the end of a, laborious life each recognized
that he was still a mystery to his disciples.

Leon arose.

" Art is Art," he repeated, sadly. " It is not water-
color sketches, nor practising on a piano. It is a life
to be lived."

" And in the meantime people starve !" observed the
worn an of the house. "If ihat'salife, itisnotoneforme."

"I'll tell you what," burst forth Leon; "you
Madame, go into another room and talk it over with
my wife ; and I'll slay here and talk it over with your
husband. It may come to nothing, but let's try."

" I am very wilhng," replied the young woman ; and
she proceeded to hght a candle. " This way if you
please." And she led Elvira upstairs into a bedroom.

The fact is," said she, sitting down, " that my hus-
band cannot paint."

" No more can mine act," replied Elvira.

" I should have thought he could," returned the
other ; "he seems clever."

" He is so, and the best of men besides," said
Elvira; " but he cannot act."

" At least he is not a sheer humbug like mine ; he
can at least sing."

"You mistake Leon," returned his wife, warmly.
" He does not even pretend to sing ; he has too fine a
taste ; he does so for a living. And, believe me, neithei

L

2fEtV ARABIAN NIGHTS.

of the men are humbugs. They are people with a
mission — which they cannot carry out-"

" Humbug or not," replied the other, " you came
very near passing the night in the fields ; and, for my
part, I Uve in terror of starvation. I should think il
was a man's mission to think twice about his wife. But
it appears not. Nothing is their mission but to p!ay
the fool. Oh!" she broke out, "is it not something
dreary to think of that man of mine ? If he could
only do it, who would care ? But no — not he — no more
than 1 can ! "

" Have you any children ? " asked Elvira.

" No ; but then I may."

"Children change so much," said Elvira, with a sij

And just then from the room below the
sudden snapping cord on the guitar ; one followed
after another ; then the voice of Leon joined
there was an air being played and sung that slopped
the speech of the two women. The wife of the
painter stood like a person transfixed ; Elvira, looking
into her eyes, could see all manner of beautiful mem-
ories and kind thoughts that were passing in and out
of her soul with every note ; it was a piece of her
youth that went before her ; a green French plain, the
smell of apple -flowers, the far and shining ringlets of
a river, and the words and presence of love-

"Leon has hit the nail," thought Elvira to herself,
"I wonder how."

The how was plain enough. Leon has asked the
painter if there were no air connected with courtship
and pleasant times; and having learned what he wished,
and allowed an interval to pass, he had soared 'orth
into

O mon aminte,
O mon deair
Sachons caeiilir
L'heure channante T

"Pardon me, Madame," said the painter's wife, *
Lusband sings admirably weli."

lore

PXOVIDENCE AND THE GUITAR. 329

"He sings that with some feeling," replied Elvira,
critically, although she was a Httle moved herself, foi
the song cut both ways in the upper chamber ; but it
is as an actor and not as a musician."

"Life is very sad," said the other; "it so wastes
away under one's fingers."

" I have not found it. so, replied Elvira. " I think
the good parts of it last and grow greater every day,"

" Frankly, how would you advise me ? "

"Frankly I would let my husband do what he
wished. He is obviously a very loving painter ; you
have not yet tried him as a clerk. And you know — if
it were only as the possible father of your children — it
is as well to keep him at his best."

"He is an excellent fellow," said the wife.

They kept it up till sunrise with music and all man-
ner of good-fellowship ; and at sunrise, while the sky
was still temperate and clear, they separated on the
threshold with a thousand excellent wishes for each
other's welfare, Castel-le-Gachis was beginning to
«end up its smoke against the golden East ; and the
church bell was ringing six.

" My guitar is a familiar spirit," said Leon, as he
and Elvira took the nearest way toward the inn ; " it
resuscitated a Commissary, created an English tour-
ist, and reconciled a man and wife."

Stubbs, on his part, went o£f into the morning with
reflections of his own.

" They are all mad," thought he, " all mad — but
wonderfully decent."

1IH

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